Guangdong's private economy has entered the most rapid development stage in its history and is showing strong momentum, said Fei Mingfu, deputy director of the Guangdong Province Privately Owned Enterprise Association.

"During the past years, the private economy in the province has formed a batch of capital-intensive and technology-intensive large-scale enterprises, consortiums and leading enterprises in different industrial sectors," said Fei.

The province is a leading economic powerhouse in the country. Last year, the private economy accounted for 39.6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the province.

Guangdong is a leading export-oriented economy in China. Export-oriented business has become a key factor in the economic development of the province.

However, as industrialization entered its middle and latter stages, the export-oriented economy revealed its limitations, Fei said. In 2003, Guangdong decided to accelerate the development of the privately owned economy and also brought in 12 policies to help speed up the domestic-oriented economy.

In two years, the number of privately owned enterprises grew rapidly, making Guangdong a leading province in terms of the number of privately owned enterprises. Today, the province has 566,000 more privately owned enterprises than Shandong Province, and 400,000 more than Jiangsu Province.

Fixed-assets investment in Guangdong's private economy has maintained a growth of more than 25 per cent, much higher than the growth of social investment. The private economy has entered the sectors of infrastructure and public utilities.

The largest privately owned electronic information industry group in China was established on the eastern bank of the Pearl River, with an output value of 400 billion yuan (US$50 billion); a privately owned electric machinery industrial group has also been taking shape on the western bank of the Pearl River, with an output value of more than 130 billion yuan (US$16.25 billion).

And in this climate, the Second Guangdong Privately Owned Enterprises Product Fair will be held between November 8 and 12 in Dongguan International Convention Center.

About 700 private enterprises are expected to participate in the event, with 1,000 stands covering a floor space of 25,000 square metres.

Editor: Yan