Beijing, September 22:

Three quarters of Communist China’s economy will be non-state-owned by the end of this decade, state media reported Friday, highlighting a clear trend of slipping state control.

The figure is up from last year, when 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) was produced by private or semi-private entities, the China Daily said, quoting an annual report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the country’s top think-tank.

“The non-state sector is to contribute three fourths of China’s GDP in five

years, when at least 70 per cent of the country’s firms will be privately owned,” the report said.