Zhang Zhikuan, director of Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce, told the 11th Beijing Municipal People's Congress that some fields of the private sector had attracted higher qualified and better skilled staff than the public sector.

"The private sector exceeds public enterprises in its talent intensity, the ratio of high educational degrees and young talent," Zhang said.

Analysts said the private sector had become indispensable in providing jobs.

According to incomplete statistics, Beijing collected about 3.12 billion yuan (376 million US dollars) in tax from private enterprises and the self-employed in the first half of the year, accounting for 11 percent of municipal revenue.

Statistics also show that an average two to three new businesses were established everyday by Chinese returning from abroad in Zhongguancun, China's "Silicon Valley," in north Beijing.

There are 16,000 private scientific and technological companies, employing more than 400,000 people in the city.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2002)