MKS sports East China's Zhejiang Province, on March 14, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Ningbo Acson Automotive Electronics Co" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-03-16/76f0a94b-2577-4ef7-aa5f-a4faebb94582.jpg" />

A worker on the assembly line conducts the final inspection of products at Ningbo Acson Automotive Electronics Co in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, on March 14, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Ningbo Acson Automotive Electronics Co

"Ningbo won't be the same without its entrepreneurship, and innovation is essential here," Yao Xianjun, president of Ningbo Junling Mould Technology Co, told the Global Times. "In a market where competition is too fierce, there is only one way forward for us, that is innovation, and nothing else." 

Facing fierce market competition, Yao is always optimistic. Yao's company, which produces high-end auto parts and mould, has transformed from a small workshop to a leading auto mould manufacturer over the past two decades, boasting clients like Huawei, CATL, Tesla, Volkswagen, and General Motors. 

Nestled in the heart of East China's Zhejiang Province, Ningbo has long been a cradle of private enterprises in China. Recently, the Global Times reporter visited Lingfeng Industrial Park in Ningbo's Beilun district to uncover the secrets behind the high-quality development of China's private economy.

The industrial park, situated in the Daqi Industrial Community in the Beilun district, is home to 78 firms in the automotive supply chain and nearly 20,000 employees, Zheng Lingyun, a local official, told the Global Times. Many of the private companies, which started from scratch in the 1980s and 1990s, are leading the charge in the new-energy vehicle supply chain, exporting products to countries including Germany, US, France, Italy, and Japan.

A transformation journey

Recalling his story of the early days in 2000 with a team of just a few workers, Yao said: "We were a small workshop then, manually polishing moulds with an annual output value of only a few hundred thousand yuan." Now Junling operates advanced manufacturing facilities and a workforce of hundreds, with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan ($13.8 million).

According to Yao, the key to this transformation lies in his commitment to innovation and craftsmanship.

"The mould industry was very traditional then, and without drastic change, staying competitive in the market was difficult," Yao said. In 2017, Yao made a bold decision to commit 200 million yuan to develop a comprehensive new-energy vehicle (NEV) storage and mould manufacturing platform. 

Yao told the Global Times that after experiencing five rounds of manufacturing upgrades, the company is expected to realize a 50-percent compound growth in production in the next 3-5 years. Yao's story is just one of many success stories in Ningbo. 

Founded in 2014, Ningbo Acson Automotive Electronics Co initially specialized in producing fuel tank caps. However, in response to the burgeoning NEV market in China, the company made a decision to pivot to charging port covers.

"China is leading the new energy revolution as well as the intelligent 5G-wired NEV market," the company's chairman Du Xiangli told the Global Times. "I believe that as China's influence in the global automotive industry continues to grow, we will embrace greater development opportunities." 

In 2020, Acson seized a major market opportunity when a BYD supplier faced delays. The company completed a project in just two months that usually took six months to finish, which led Acson to secure a substantial number of orders.

The spirit of craftsmanship encompasses both technological devotion and quality excellence, Du said, adding that with the rising public demand for NEVs. His company's research team has grown from seven to over 50 engineers in four years.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are very important drivers of growth for China's private sector, Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute in Beijing, told the Global Times. 

Li noted that although challenges remain for private enterprises, including financing problems and unfair market competition, the private companies have become the main force in fostering new quality productive forces, and promoting the development of strategic emerging sectors and future-oriented industries.

Looking ahead, private entrepreneurs like Yao will be exploring new frontiers. Junling is now venturing into the robot industry, focusing on heavy-load and low-altitude robots, Yao noted.

Unswerving policy support

However, the journey to transformation and upgrading was fraught with difficulties. Land scarcity, the challenges with digital transformation, and infrastructure constraints were among the hurdles Yao has faced. 

Local government backing, including a 70 percent value added tax credit refund and easier land allocation, has provided the necessary boost. "Government support gave us not only financial aid but also higher confidence," Yao said. 

In the industrial park, both Yao and Du praised the business climate and the government's policy support that have fueled their companies' growth. "The government's support is like sunshine and rain, helping nurture the growth of enterprises in Ningbo," Yao said.

"There is one entrepreneur for every 6.5 people in Zhejiang" said Wang Hao, the deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Zhejiang Provincial Committee and governor of Zhejiang.

"We have been striving to build a market-oriented, law-based and internationally first-class business environment, implementing effective policy measures to promote the high-quality development of the private economy, boosting market expectations and corporate confidence," Wang said.

China will encourage private investment by implementing new mechanisms for public-private partnership in a well-regulated manner and guide more private investment toward major infrastructure and public wellbeing projects, thus creating more opportunities for the development of private capital, according to this year's Government Work Report. 

Chinese government's unswerving support for the private sector will significantly boost confidence and expectations among private entrepreneurs, which will generate more impetus to accelerate the growth of the world's second-largest economy, while motivating private enterprises to play a bigger role in driving technological innovation and industrial upgrading, said Li Jin.

Private enterprises have long been a key driving force behind China's economic ascendance, contributing more than 60 percent of GDP, and 80 percent of urban employment. By the end of September 2024, the country's 55 million registered private enterprises made up over 92 percent of all businesses in China, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency on February 25.

According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, at the end of January 2025, there were 56.71 million private enterprises in China — 5.2 times the 2012 figure. Among the national high-tech enterprises, the number of private enterprises increased from 28,000 in 2012 to more than 420,000 today, with a proportion increasing from 62.4 percent to more than 92 percent, Xinhua reported.