Beijing: The Chinese government is resorting to surprising measures to restore the confidence of entrepreneurs but the campaign has inspired more nervousness than optimism, the media reported.
The province of Hainan, an island that Beijing plans to turn into the world’s largest free trade port, rolled out a sweeping package of initiatives late last month intended to support the private sector, reports CNN.
The most eyebrow-raising was a pledge from the provincial government not to target private businesspeople without cause.
The package contains more than two dozen measures to support private industry, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of China’s GDP and over 80 per cent of employment.
The Hainan government said the measures were aimed at protecting the legitimate rights and interests of private entrepreneurs and creating a “fair and just” legal environment, CNN reported.
Instead, the announcement caused great controversy online and offline. Some people criticized the move as “absurd” on social media, as it implied the government had been arresting people at will and that entrepreneurs could now enjoy extrajudicial rights.
Rather than assuaging worries among entrepreneurs and encouraging them to create jobs and economic growth, the statement — in which the most controversial promises were later deleted — could have the opposite effect, according to analysts.
It may cause even more anxiety among businesspeople about arbitrary punishment, CNN reported.
“The Chinese government is trying to turn Hainan Island into a fully ‘open’ zone,” said Willy Lam, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank.
“However, the statement by Hainan authorities underscores the arbitrary nature of Chinese laws even regarding multi-million-yuan private bosses.”
There have been repeated reports of private entrepreneurs being detained on “dubious charges”, he noted.
One of the highest-profile cases involves Bao Fan, a star investment banker, who has been missing since February.
