Systematic Transformations of Entrepreneurship in the New Era: The Commitment to Benefit Corporation Entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in 2012, China has comprehensively started shifting economic and social development from the traditional way of extensive growth, driven by labor, land, and capital, to innovation-driven high-quality development. During the transformation process, intricate economic and social contradictions have arisen one after another. Thus, the effective participation of entrepreneurs as market players is indispensable in promoting high-quality social and economic development and modernizing China's governance system and capacity. In particular, the global COVID-19 pandemic has had a vast and lasting impact on production and social order. It is all the more necessary to make the best of the endogenous capability of entrepreneurship to energize market vitality and address the complicated challenges in social and market governance in the face of a major social crisis. In his report to the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "We will inspire and protect entrepreneurship, and encourage more entities to make innovations and start businesses. We will build an educated, skilled, and innovative workforce, foster respect for model workers, and promote quality workmanship." On July 21, 2020, when presiding over a roundtable with entrepreneurs, Xi once again stressed the great value of entrepreneurship in improving the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics and accelerating innovation-driven development in the post-COVID-19 era. He pointed out, "Since the reform and opening up, the socialist market economy system has steadily developed and constantly improved;various market entities are thriving;facing the huge attacks on domestic and global economies caused by COVID-19, it is needed to make every effort to protect market entities, spur vitality of market entities, carry forward entrepreneurship, and enable enterprises to play bigger roles and achieve greater development, to accumulate fundamental strength for economic growth."