"It is a great honor for me to be elected a delegate to the National Party Congress," said Zhou, adding that attending the National Party Congress helps him to study and understand the guidelines of the Party so as to come up with a better plan for the development of his company.

The Hongdou Group, with total assets surmounting 1.1 billion yuan, was started as a small cotton workshop in 1957. It developed into a township knitting factory in 1983. Zhou's father, Zhou Yaoting, was the leader of the factory. At the end of 1987, Zhou Haijiang quit his job as a civil servant and joined the factory which was at the brink of bankruptcy.

In 2004, Zhou Haijiang took his position as president of the Hongdou Group, a private business with 10 large subsidiaries, over 100 factories and one listed company. In February 2005, Zhou became the first textile entrepreneur in the Forbes' wealthiest people list.

The 41-year-old Zhou joined the CPC when he was in college. Zhou said the five years between the 16th and 17th national Party congresses were the most important period for the development of the Hongdou Group. In the five years, the group's sales revenue grew five times from 2.8 billion to 14.3 billion yuan.

Zhou said after years of dedication, the Hongdou Group had found its own way of development. Where does the opportunity for private enterprises come from? He explained, "The biggest opportunity comes from the guidelines of the ruling party. If private enterprises can fully understand and implement the policies, they can solve their problems during the course of development in a better way. In addition, most cadres nurtured by the Party are highly qualified."

There are 14 Party branches in Hongdou Group, and 100 percent of the group's high-level managers are Party members. Mean-while, 80 percent of the middle-level managers from its subsidiaries are also Party members.

Liang Wengen, a decade older than Zhou, is a heavyweight from Hunan Province. He joined the Party in 2004. In the 2006 Forbes China's wealthiest men listing, Liang, as chairman of Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., was ranked 59th with a fortune of 3.3 billion yuan. He was a member of the 8th, 9th and 10th National People's Congress. This year, he appeared on the high-level political stage as a delegate to the 17th National Party Congress.

Liang said that since the 16th National Party Congress, Sany Heavy Industry has made great achievements. Liang attributed this success to good government policies and the national development environment.

"When private entrepreneurs were elected delegates to the National Party Congress, the first direct impact is that the world will know that private entrepreneurs are able to join the Communist Party, which helps to enhance the brand recognition of our company," Liang said.

Liang said that currently Party members account for one eighth of Sany Heavy Industry's employees and that they have become the backbone of the company.

According to statistics from the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, by the end of June 2007, there were 187,000 private enterprises with scale, with 164,000 having established Party organizations. By the end of 2006, there were 2.863 million Party members from the private sector, and 810,000 self-employed people engaged in industry and business were Party members.

Attention and pursuit

QQ.com, a major domestic website, introduced the new social stratum as "representatives of advanced productive forces."

Analysts noted that the new social stratum involves people from every field and sector of the Chinese economy, giving them the ability to express concerns from private enterprises to Party leaders at all levels. Meanwhile, by attending the important political platform, they are able to grasp the political direction of the ruling party.

Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Wanda Group in Dalian, was the only delegate from private enterprises based in northeast China. At a penal meetings during the 17th National Party Congress, he called for private enterprises to engage in social undertakings and help build a harmonious society.

Wang, controlling 30 billion yuan in fixed assets, is entering the cultural field from his original real estate industry. "We are building the largest cinemas in China," said Wang. "In the past, private enterprises were not allowed to do business in the cinema and cultural industry."

"Private enterprises are the result of reform and opening-up," said Zhou Haijiang. "If the reform and opening-up policy changes, the future of private enterprises will be in trouble."

Zhou said President Hu had stated clearly that the opening-up policy will remain unchanged. "We should stick to the reform and opening-up policy," Zhou said, adding it is the most important policy guiding China today.

Zhou said the report to the 17 National Party Congress stated clearly that the ruling party would continue to encourage the development of private enterprises. "It will be a new starting point for Chinese private enterprises and we will be able to face a bigger development opportunity," Zhou added.

Zhang Ruimin, President of Haier Group, has been a Party delegate during four Party congresses. He was elected this year an alternate member of the CPC Central Committee. "At present there are mounting challenges facing various companies, challenges such as innovation," he said. "I suggest the Party pay attention to problems relating to social credit, business moral and how to set up a better market system."

Zhang told Beijing Review that the terms "scientific development" and "harmonious society" are interrelated. But for a company, if it suffers losses, how can it contribute to building a harmonious society? Zhang stated that it is paramount that people achieve self-actualization in a society. "In Haier, even the average worker can receive training from Haier University," Zhang said. "If an employee invents something, we will name the invention after that person so that the inventors get the respect they deserve for their creativity and are encouraged to make better inventions in the future," Zhang said.

As a successful private entrepreneur, Zhang has been thinking more about the social responsibility of enterprises. "The primary purpose of the CPC is to serve the people whole-heartedly," he said. "Its eternal pursuit is for the entire nation to live a better life. In order to achieve this goal, entrepreneur Party members must play an important role.

These people are parts of new economic organizations and new social organizations, namely, start-up personnel and technical personnel in private technology firms, managers employed by foreign companies, individual business people, private entrepreneurs, employees in intermediary agencies and free professionals