The private economy is leading economic development of Guangdong, the provincial statistics bureau said earlier this month.

From January to November, most of the enterprises in Guangdong showed a slowdown in growth, but private enterprises were having a relatively more robust time, the bureau said.

During the period, the incremental industrial output value of State-owned or State-holding companies was about 230 billion yuan, growing 8.1 percent from the same period of last year. In 2007, the growth rate was 13.2 percent from 2006.

The combined production value by foreign-funded enterprises and businesses from Hong Kong and Macao grew by 787 billion yuan in first 11 months, up 10.4 percent year-on-year. Yet the growth rate was 6.6 percentage points lower than last year.

From January to November this year, the output value from private enterprises was more than 363 billion yuan, an increase of 20 percent from the same period of last year.

Even though the growth was 4.3 percentage points lower than that of 2007, it was better than the State-owned and overseas-funded enterprises.

Even before the global financial meltdown, Guangdong's provincial government undertook a wide range of work to boost the development of private enterprises.

The government offered rewards to the top 100 private enterprises. It also released a series of favorable policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them raise funds and mature.

In September, the capital city of Guangzhou hosted the fifth China international SMEs fair, creating a platform for exchanges between SMEs in Guangdong as well as the rest of the country and their counterparts in the world.

Early this year, the provincial government launched the Galaxy Training Program that offers professional training to managers of private enterprises.

Private enterprises are also encouraged to build their capacity for innovation.

The provincial government projects the private economy will contribute up to 50 percent of the total economic volume in Guangdong by 2010.

To realize the target, the private economy must grow at a rate 3 percentage points higher every year than the existing rate.

The provincial government will also regularly check on work by local governments in developing the private economy.

State-owned enterprises now are enjoying more favorable policies than the private sector.

The government said it would change the situation soon and create a level playing field for private companies.

Editor: Yan