How Xi's Fujian years shaped China's support for private sector, opening up

Before Xi Jinping became China's top leader, he worked over 17 years in east China's Fujian Province, a place he called his "second hometown."

During his time there, Xi championed policies that supported private sector growth and deepened economic opening-up, laying a solid foundation for the development of his economic thought.

"Some of the thoughts and explorations I made while working here are still being thought about and deepened in my later work, and some of them have been put into practice on a larger scale across the country," Xi once said, referring to the coastal province.

'Jinjiang Experience' vital for private economy

From June 1985 to October 2002, Xi visited Jinjiang, a county-level city in Fujian, seven times. At the time, Jinjiang led economic development among Fujian's county-level regions, with a booming private sector that was also facing growing pains.

Focusing on private enterprises, Xi conducted extensive on-the-ground research. On many occasions, he encouraged companies to be market-oriented and to strengthen market innovation.

He routinely asked detailed questions: Had they introduced new technologies or developed new products? How was the market evolving? What challenges were they facing?

For example, during a visit to Fengzhu Knitting Bleaching and Dyeing Industry Co., Ltd. in June 2000, Xi was pleased to learn the company was preparing to go public. He encouraged Jinjiang entrepreneurs to shift from a family-run model to a joint-stock system.

Fengzhu completed its joint-stock reform in December 2000 and was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2004, becoming the only Jinjiang-based firm on the domestic main board at the time.

Today, Jinjiang has nurtured over 320,000 market entities and is home to 52 listed companies with a combined market capitalization nearing 400 billion yuan (about $55.6 billion), making it one of China's top county-level economies. Private enterprises contribute over 90 percent of the city's GDP, tax revenue and employment.

Gu Yan, director of Research Department I at the Study Center of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, said that what began as Jinjiang's local development model – the "Jinjiang Experience" – has been successfully adopted nationwide.

Over the past 20 years, the "Jinjiang Experience" has expanded from its roots in Quanzhou to influence all of Fujian, evolved through innovation in Zhejiang, and been promoted across China, Gu wrote in May.

The model continues to prove both its theoretical soundness and practical effectiveness, he said.

Xiamen SEZ key for reform and opening up

From June 1985 to June 1988, Xi held three key positions in Xiamen – member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xiamen Municipal Committee, vice mayor and executive vice mayor – in one of China's first four special economic zones (SEZs).

"Working in the special economic zone was the first time I held a municipal-level leadership position, the first time I directly participated in reform and opening up in a more developed coastal region, and the first time I personally engaged in city development and management," Xi once recalled.

Determined to advance reform, Xi was unafraid to blaze new trails in Xiamen. He proposed the principle of "small government, big society" – a first in China.

Recognizing Xiamen's role as a gateway for opening up, Xi led a research team to Singapore and organized China's first international seminar on export processing zones and free ports.

The Xiamen SEZ has since continuously expanded its openness to the world, transforming from an export processing zone to a bonded zone, then a bonded port zone, and eventually into a pilot free trade zone.

During an inspection tour of Fujian in October 2024, President Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, visited the Xiamen Area of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone. "Today, the requirements for reform and opening up, both in depth and breadth, are higher than ever before," he said.

He urged local authorities to adapt to evolving circumstances, steadily promote institutional opening-up, and strive for new achievements in expanding high-level reform and opening-up.