(Yicai) Feb. 18 -- Private firms are expected to play an increasingly important role in driving technological innovation, analysts told Yicai after China signaled a strong commitment to the non-state sector at the first high-level symposium on the private economy in more than six years.

Among the well-known business leaders at the event were Huawei Technologies' Ren Zhengfei, BYD’s Wang Chuanfu, New Hope Group's Liu Yonghao, Will Semiconductor's Yu Renrong, Unitree Robotics' Wang Xingxing, and Xiaomi's Lei Jun. Executives from Contemporary Amperex Technology, Chint Group, Alibaba Group Holding, and DeepSeek were also present.

Compared with the last symposium in November 2018, yesterday’s meeting included more companies from high-tech industries such as computing, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals, and new energy, Lu Zhe, chief economist at Soochow Securities, pointed out.

The stock market is expected to get a major boost from the symposium, Lu noted, as there are now expectations for policies related to finance, legislation, and the business environment, which will support market confidence and sentiment. 

Lu’s point was echoed by Yao Pei, chief strategy analyst at Hua Chuang Securities, who pointed out that after three similar high-level meetings the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index performed strongly, typically yielding positive returns within a year. The performance of private enterprises was much improved in the year following the last event, Yao noted.

During China’s top annual policy-setting meetings next month, more policies may emerge to support private businesses in areas such as consumption, AI, advanced manufacturing, and new energy, according to Wu Kaida, chief strategy analyst at TF Securities' Research Institute.

Li Chao, chief economist at Zheshang Securities, said Zhejiang province’s success in fostering tech companies could be seen as an example for other regions. Li pointed to the recent news headlines made by several Hangzhou-based tech firms, including AI startup DeepSeek and Unitree Robotics.

In terms of investment, opportunities in high-elasticity growth sectors such as technology, media, robotics, and defense continue to present attractive prospects, according to Huaan Securities.

Editor: Tom Litting