The Increasing Role of Small Business in the Chinese Economy.

The article examines the changes in small business ownership since the Chinese government implemented its open-door policy in 1978. Most significant among these is the relative decline in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the marked increase in the numbers of small business. Since China implemented its open-door policy in 1978 and moved toward a socialist market economy, it has experienced rapid economic growth. One characteristic of this change has been the relative decline of large SOEs and the expansion of the number of small enterprises. Although the role of small businesses in creating economic development in the advanced economies is well documented, the exploration of the extraordinary growth of small business in the transition economy of China is less understood. From a position of no privately owned small business In 1979, there were more than 10 million small to medium-sized enterprises by 1999. These small firms made an increasingly important contribution to national income and employment at a time of relative decline of the contribution of larger firms.