Shi Jie, deputy director of the China Minsheng Bank, speaks at a forum on private sector development held by the bank in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on March 28. [Photo/nb.ifeng.com]

A forum discussing the development of the private sector was held by China Minsheng Bank in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on March 28.

More than 130 local companies attended. 

Shi Jie, deputy director of the bank, delivered a keynote speech on a series of tasks that private companies should perform to survive in the current era.

"Companies will not compete in terms of products or technologies in the future, but in the corporate ecosystem, which will place new requirements on a company's management and resource integration capacity," said Shi.

Shi suggested companies should improve their industrial chains by asset integration and strengthen internal management and financial risk control.

Sun Lijian, director of the financial research center of Fudan University, analyzed the opportunities and challenges that private companies face today and expressed his views on how they should transform and upgrade themselves.

"Companies need to solve their structural problems by carrying out supply-side reforms and strengthen their profitability to increase their competitiveness," said Sun.

"Many manufacturers used to rely on low labor cost as their competitive edge, but nowadays high consumption provides a whole new set of opportunities," added Sun.

The forum was initiated by the bank in 2015 as a platform for communication between the bank and companies. It is intended to promote the transformation and upgrading of companies. Altogether 24 such forums have been conducted nationwide, facilitating cooperation between the bank and nearly 1,000 companies.