Zhou Haijiang, President of the well-known private enterprise Hodo Group in Jiangsu, attended the recently concluded 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

He stood out among the more than 2,000 delegates as the first private entrepreneur to be elected as a candidate to the alternate members of the 17th CPC Central Committee.

Zhou regarded his election as a demonstration of the booming development of China's private industry in the past years, especially after the opening-up policy was adopted in 1978.

"The privately-run economy has witnessed galloping development in recent years and has attracted increasing attraction from the Party leadership as illustrated in my election," Zhou said. "It is of landmark significance.

"It shows our Party is more and more open-minded toward non-public economies and will further encourage private businesses to play a bigger role in the building of a well-off and harmonious society."

(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, October 22, 2007)