The private sector plays an important role in Shanghai's economy. In 2018, the added value of the private economy hit 863.4 billion yuan ($122.6 billion), an annual rise of 6.3 percent, 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous year. The private sector accounted for 26.4 percent of the city's GDP, 0.2 percentage points higher year-on-year.

The quality and efficiency of the private economy continue to rise. The industrial output from major private enterprises reached 560.79 billion yuan in 2018, up 1.6 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the city's total industrial output. The main business income from major private industrial enterprises exceeded 600 billion yuan for the first time to hit 606.46 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 4 percent, which was 1.4 percentage points higher than the city's total. Industrial profits of major private enterprises were 39.43 billion yuan, up 4.5 percent, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the city's total. Revenue of major private service enterprises was 571.02 billion yuan, a 15.1-percent rise year-on-year.

The private fixed assets investment jumped 21.1 percent, 12.9 percentage points higher than the previous year. Retail sales of consumer goods by private enterprises were 292.64 billion yuan, up 5.4 percent year-on-year. Exports by private enterprises hit 326.32 billion yuan, up 15.9 percent, 11.7 percentage points higher than the growth pace of the city's total exports. Private enterprises contributed large sums of tax revenue, creating 473.15 billion yuan in tax revenues, a yearly increase of 8.2 percent and accounting for 35.3 percent of the city's total. The private sector also led to more entrepreneurship. A total of 383,300 private enterprises were registered, up 12.7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 95.9 percent of the city's total.