According to the latest data provided by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Chinese capital is home to the headquarters of 492 private companies, accounting for 12.4 percent of all the companies headquartered in Beijing. The number is up by 3.4 percentage points from 2017, signaling that private economy has become a new engine to propel the economy of the capital.

Beijing has worked hard to promote the private economy in areas such as convenient stores, housekeeping services, logistics, and headquarter companies, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

This year, Beijing set aside about 55 million yuan (US$7.93 million) to support demonstration projects, build and upgrade a network of convenient stores, and provide skill training programs for workers. The city also spent 16 million yuan on the construction of 52 produce markets from 18 private companies, and is expect to spend another 20 million yuan on the construction of 47 produce markets from 15 private enterprises.

The municipal government also helped the development of key private firms. Over the past three years, the city granted more than 37 million yuan to Wumart Group, Yonghui Superstores, and Shou Hang Supermarket, in order to bolster their chain-store operations. Since 2017, Beijing has backed up eight modern logistics projects with subsidies worth more than 17 million yuan.

Beijing is actively helping private companies to establish a foothold overseas. In 2017, Beijing supported 99 "going global" projects designed for private companies, involving a fund of more than 58 million yuan. In 2018, Beijing continued its efforts to relieve financing woes for private companies. Among the registered or approved companies and institutions that make outbound direct investment, more than 3,000 are from the private sector, accounting for 80 percent; those private companies entered into contracts worth 60 billion yuan, accounting for 70 percent of the total amount.

According to the commerce authorities, the number of private innovation-driven companies headquartered in Beijing make up 20.4 percent of all innovative companies in Beijing. Three of these private companies made the list of the Fortune 500. The investment made by private companies headquartered in Beijing account for 29.3 percent of the amount made by all such companies, 0.5 percentage points higher than the state-owned companies headquartered in Beijing.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce said it will provide better business environment for private enterprises that are headquartered in the capital and help sharpen their edges in the international market.