Chinese entrepreneurs in 2026 are standing at an unprecedented historical crossroads. Al is transitioning from content generation in the virtual world to productivity tools in the physical world, while geopolitical conflicts and protectionism are reshaping the global economic and trade landscape. How can China's top private enterprises become friends of time and society, deeply cultivate global networks, and lead industry development in this context? Deloitte China Chairman Jiang Ying, who has served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for nine consecutive years, recently accepted our invitation to share her meticulous observations and systematic thinking on China's first-class private enterprises.

Jiang Ying, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Deloitte China

        In her view, private enterprises are a dynamic part of China's economic innovation ecosystem, with the advantages of being highly sensitive to the market and relatively agile in organizational operations. Deloitte China has long accompanied and supported the development of private enterprises in China, especially since the introduction of the Best Managed Companies (BMC) project in 2018. Over the past seven years, we have discovered 74 outstanding management companies and "hidden champions" in various sub sectors, constantly decoding the underlying logic of their vitality and competitiveness.

        However, in order to achieve long-term sustainable development, private enterprises need to pay more attention to value creation. She summarized three directions for private enterprises to improve: "Xingli" to build a commercial civilization with Chinese characteristics, "Xinli" to focus on stimulating new quality productivity, and "Xinli" to deeply cultivate people's organization and leadership. The following is an excerpt from the dialogue:

        Chinese private enterprises: resilience builds bottom, pattern reshapes

        From the research, the resilience and vitality of private enterprises are impressive. The excellent private entrepreneurs I have come into contact with exhibit three major characteristics: firstly, they have an optimistic attitude and maintain long-term judgment on market trends; The second is full of enthusiasm, maintaining entrepreneurial passion even in complex environments; The third is to have a forward-looking layout, demonstrating a continuously evolving learning ability and maturity.

        Internal competition dilemma and AI frenzy:

        HBRC: You have come into contact with many high-quality enterprises of various types. Do these enterprises now have widespread anxiety across industries and scales?

        Enterprises need to focus on three key points to break through: firstly, accurately capturing the mismatch space between demand and supply, and achieving differentiated positioning; The second is to enhance comprehensive integration capabilities and promote collaborative reengineering of technology, management, and processes, rather than upgrading single point technologies; The third is to improve competition rules and pricing mechanisms, break the dilemma of "only winning at a low price", and incorporate value indicators such as quality, technology, carbon efficiency, and full lifecycle cost into the evaluation system. We have suggested to the government to introduce multiple value indicators in industrial policies, financial support, bidding and procurement, reduce price weights, and embed value into rules. Enterprises themselves need to shift their value judgments from single point pricing to systematic capabilities, focusing on systematic values such as operations, services, and long-term returns. For example, Costco uses selected products and membership systems to make consumers pay for value.

        Only value creation can truly break free from internal competition. Entrepreneurs actively pay attention to and embrace AI, and the deep motivation for seeking digital transformation also stems from this.

        HBRC: Nowadays, AI development is advancing rapidly on a weekly basis. Entrepreneurs are not only concerned about embracing it, but also have a fear of missing out. Based on your observation, what is the current state of AI applications in Chinese enterprises, and are there any good coping strategies?

        Of course, enterprise AI applications still face multiple challenges: first, the challenge of balancing investment returns; second, the credibility and ethical risks of AI; third, the enhancement of human judgment value in human-machine collaboration; and fourth, the urgent need for deep involvement from top leaders. As a systematic project, AI transformation can only penetrate organizational barriers and achieve implementation if the top management actively learns and personally promotes it.

        It is worth affirming that entrepreneurs have strong resilience in the face of technological changes. Although they have anxiety, they rarely passively observe, but actively layout and respond, which is the core driving force of enterprise development. In addition to AI, external variables such as geopolitical fluctuations and fluctuations in commodity prices are also testing the determination of enterprises. However, excellent entrepreneurs are well versed in the way of "cultivating internal strength", by deepening core competitiveness, focusing on value creation, promoting market diversification, and building certainty within the enterprise to hedge against external uncertainty. This is the fundamental way to cope with changes.

        Xingli, Xinli, Xinli:

        HBRC: What are the ways for private enterprises to solve these problems and anxieties? What aspects do we need to focus on improving?

        Firstly, 'Xingli' advocates for a commercial civilization with Chinese characteristics, with 'prosperity' as its core. Enterprises need to integrate social responsibility and long-term thinking into the underlying logic of development, break down negative labels such as "internal competition" and "low price competition", and enable products and services to promote social progress. The overseas strategy has also shifted from simple "globalization" to deep cultivation of "one country, one policy": for example, BMC award-winning enterprise Jinfa Technology, as a "hidden champion" of chemical new materials, has rooted in the Indian market for 8 years. The key is to find a suitable local team, create employment and realize local value through localized operation. This is a vivid footnote to the relationship between long termism and commercial civilization.

        Secondly, "New Power" focuses on new quality productivity with the "new" of "old and new", echoing the "Intelligent Economic Ecology" first mentioned in the government work report. Its core is reflected in the four "highs": high intelligence, high efficiency, high value, and high greenness. The most prominent weakness of Chinese enterprises currently lies in "high value". Even if many enterprises achieve high efficiency and high greenness, they still find it difficult to get rid of the low price dilemma, which is rooted in weak brand value. BMC award-winning enterprise Shengnong Group provides a reference sample: Shengnong Development, as a leading enterprise in China's white feathered broiler industry, has independently cultivated China's first batch of white feathered broiler chicken germplasm "Shengze 901" and upgraded version "Shengze 901Plus" with "rooted innovation" as its core. The four indicators of feed to meat ratio, egg production rate, growth rate, and disease resistance have all reached the international leading level. Shengnong has built the world's most complete full industry chain, achieving full prevention, control, and traceability from seed sources to dining tables. With the advantages of the industry chain and high-quality services, it has become the core supplier of leading catering brands.

        Thirdly, 'mental strength' builds the foundation of talents and organizations with the 'heart' of the 'human heart'. How far a company can go depends on the construction of its talent pool. However, in the context of rapid development of digitalization and AI, the difficulty of talent cultivation has sharply increased: there is a lack of motivation for school enterprise cooperation, and enterprises themselves have fallen into the misconception of "only screening and not cultivating". Some even focus on technological layout and neglect the value of people, which will inevitably weaken their core competitiveness in the long run. For this reason, I propose 'Human Leadership', emphasizing the importance of putting people first and that technology must ultimately serve people, rather than replace them. Enterprises should continuously enhance human capabilities, create new growth curves, and provide employees with space for expression and a sense of achievement.

        Finally, Zhao Jian, the leading partner of Deloitte China's BMC project and a world-class consulting expert partner, added that AI and globalization are forcing companies to redefine management, which is the key to enhancing core competitiveness. Chinese enterprises are facing a triple challenge of "basic tutoring, local exploration, and benchmarking evolution". The management upgrade of future top enterprises needs to focus on four dimensions: first, new cultural management, forming a new consensus of values in the fragmented era, and consolidating the identification of Generation Z employees; The second is new research and development management, from technological research and development to comprehensive innovation, building new innovative organizational models and interdisciplinary based system innovation work systems; The third is the management of new talent resources, shifting from "tool based employment" to focusing on employee happiness index, achieving a positive cycle of happiness and high performance; The fourth is true strategic management, which drives enterprises to shift from opportunity driven to medium - and long-term strategic driven, and solves the dilemma of "70-80% of enterprises only have business plans and no strategy".

        Deloitte has been deeply involved in the Chinese private enterprise ecosystem for many years, continuously tracking the innovation and upgrading paths of leading private enterprises through activities such as BMC projects, and collaborating with enterprises to explore breakthrough growth paths. These accumulated case experiences and cutting-edge insights are willing to be shared with more Chinese enterprises to help them achieve steady and far-reaching high-quality development.