One view is that private enterprises are legal person economic entities with private investment, private operation, private enjoyment of investment income and private undertaking of business risks.
Another view is that relatively state-owned enterprises can be divided into state-owned private enterprises and private private enterprises according to different forms of ownership. The property rights of state-owned private enterprises belong to the state, and the lessee shall, in accordance with the requirements of the market economy, raise funds by itself, operate independently, be responsible for its own profits and losses and bear its own risks. Private enterprises refer to individual enterprises and private enterprises.
In a broad sense, the definition of private enterprises in China is only relative to state-owned enterprises, but it is compatible with any non-state-owned enterprises, including state-owned and holding enterprises. So the concept of private enterprises can be summarized as follows: all non-state-owned enterprises are private enterprises. "Private enterprises" in a narrow sense only refers to private enterprises and joint ventures with private enterprises as the main body.