Gansu's private sector economy is undergoing a profound shift from scale expansion to higher quality and efficiency, as the province places "new quality productive forces" at the core of its development strategy.

Guo Qizhi, chairman of the Gansu Federation of Industry and Commerce, said the most notable change during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) has been structural rather than numerical. "What excites us is not simple growth in numbers, but a fundamental shift from quantity expansion to quality and efficiency improvement," Guo said.

By end-2025, Gansu had 2.35 million private-sector market entities, up from 1.74 million five years earlier, an increase of about 35.1 percent. Private firms now account for over 90 percent of all market entities and more than 80 percent of high-tech enterprises in the province.

Guo said private firms are playing an increasingly central role in innovation. Companies such as Jiuquan OK Seed Machinery, a national leader with nearly 70 years of experience, have tackled key bottlenecks in agricultural technology by developing advanced seed corn detasseling machines, significantly improving efficiency and reducing costs.

This momentum is reinforced by stronger policy support. Private firms now participate in nearly 74 percent of provincial science and technology projects, making them a key driver of industrial upgrading.

Gansu has also stepped up efforts to build a first-class business environment. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 11 of 14 key indicators ranked among the best in western China or nationwide. The "Gan Kuai Ban" digital platform enables 71 percent of services to be handled via mobile devices, while enterprise registration can be completed within one day at nearly zero cost.

Zhejiang province-based Hailiang Group's high-performance copper foil project in Lanzhou New Area, Gansu, has become one of the world's largest single production bases for lithium battery copper foil, with an annual capacity of 90,000 metric tons.

"Gansu is not only a strategic base for our new energy materials business, but also a key driver of our leapfrog development," said Wang Shuguang, chairman of Gansu Hailiang New Energy Materials. Wang attributed the company's rapid growth to efficient policy support, tailored financing and strong talent attraction.

Ding Yixiao contributed to this story.