In-depth Observation - Breaking Ice and Achieving Symbiosis: Private Enterprises Venture into the Domain of Major National Core Equipment, Ushering in a New Chapter of Integration in High-Precision and Cutting-Edge Technological Fields

As of the end of May 2025, there were 185 million private economic entities in China, accounting for 96.76% of the total number of business entities. They contributed over 50% of the country's tax revenue, fixed - asset investment, and foreign trade import and export volume. When private enterprises move from traditional manufacturing to "high - end, precise, and cutting - edge" fields such as nuclear power, semiconductors, and robots, a profound transformation is taking place. The No. 1 unit of the San'ao Nuclear Power Plant of China General Nuclear Power Group (the first domestic nuclear power plant with private capital participation) was put into operation, driving nearly 2,000 private enterprises to integrate into the supply chain; the entire semiconductor industry chain has been opened to private enterprises, accelerating domestic substitution; in the robot field, private enterprises are encouraged to promote the commercialization of embodied intelligence.

Nuclear Power Breakthrough: From 2% Shareholding to Supply Chain Resonance of 2,000 Enterprises, Private Capital Activates a New Ecology of Energy Heavyweights

For a long time, due to the high safety threshold and huge investment volume in the nuclear power industry, state - owned enterprises have been the core players in market access. The implementation of the San'ao Nuclear Power Plant has officially opened a breakthrough for private capital access in the high - end energy field. As the first domestic nuclear power plant project to introduce private capital, Geely Technology participated in the construction of the Hualong One unit with a 2% equity stake. The implementation of the project directly connected more than 2,000 upstream and downstream private enterprises, among which over a hundred small and medium - sized manufacturing enterprises in Cangnan successfully entered the nuclear power supporting supply chain. Relying on the public project data of the National Energy Administration, in recent years, about 10% of private capital access shares have been generally reserved for newly approved nuclear power projects in China, and multiple under - construction units have continuously released procurement orders for parts.

From an industrial logic perspective, state - owned enterprises hold the core nuclear power technology, safety control standards, and project coordination resources, while private enterprises, with their market - oriented flexibility, achieve domestic cost - reduction in the fields of fine - distributed parts such as valves, special cables, and non - standard equipment. The domestic localization rate of nuclear power supporting parts has increased from 65% in the early years to 82% currently. Objectively speaking, the nuclear power industry has a large initial investment and a long investment pay - back period. The average return on investment of private enterprises is only 3% - 5%, far lower than that of ordinary processing and manufacturing industries, and it also takes several years to complete technical compliance certification. However, the cooperation between state - owned and private enterprises makes up for the development shortcomings of a single subject. It not only ensures the safety production bottom - line of nuclear power but also compresses the supporting production cost through the market - oriented competition of private enterprises. This cooperation model is gradually being replicated and implemented in high - end energy industries such as wind power and ultra - high voltage.

Semiconductor Breakthrough: From 9% to 21% Leap in Domestic Production Rate, Private Enterprises Prop Up Half of the Domestic Substitution

According to the annual industry report released by the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the domestic production rate of domestic semiconductor equipment has climbed from 9% in 2021 to 21% in 2025. Behind this four - year leap - forward growth, private enterprises are an indispensable backbone force for domestic substitution. Now, there are more than 12,000 private enterprises related to the semiconductor industry chain in China. The average annual R & D investment of 453 private semiconductor listed companies accounts for more than 5% of their revenue. A number of leading enterprises in niche markets have achieved technological breakthroughs, and there have been new breakthroughs in areas such as target materials, power devices, and EDA design.

The industrial integration shows distinct complementary characteristics. State - owned large funds focus on cutting - edge underlying technology research and the layout of heavy - asset wafer production lines, while private enterprises deeply engage in the implementation of niche equipment and materials. The domestic production rate of mature segments such as cleaning equipment and CMP consumables has approached 50%. However, there are also objective short - comings in the industry. The domestic production rate of key categories such as high - end lithography machines and high - end photoresists is less than 5%, and there is still a technological gap of 2 to 3 generations between the core processes and international leading enterprises. The orderly opening of technological barriers has abandoned the previous development model where state - owned capital monopolized the entire industry chain. Market - oriented competition forces technological iteration, enabling the semiconductor industry to get out of the dilemma of self - enclosed development and steadily promote the self - controllability of the entire chain.

Robot Breakout: From the Laboratory to the Production Line, Private Enterprises Lead the Commercialization Track of Embodied Intelligence

Referring to the 2025 industry statistics of the China Robot Industry Alliance, the global market size of humanoid robots is 17 billion yuan, with the Chinese market accounting for 8.5 billion yuan, more than half of the total. The annual shipment of humanoid robots reached 12,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 420%. Private enterprises firmly occupy the leading position in the commercialization of embodied intelligence. Domestic private enterprises such as Unitree Robotics, Ubtech Robotics, and LuoShi have emerged from the laboratory, and mass - produced models have been put into industrial and inspection scenarios. Hundred - billion - level robot industry mother funds have been established in many places, continuously providing financial support for the mass production of private enterprise technologies.

Compared with state - owned enterprises that focus on basic bionic algorithms and the research and development of military special robots, private enterprises closely follow market demand to iterate products and quickly complete model optimization and large - scale mass production. However, the industry is still restricted by the short - comings of upstream components. The domestic production rate of reducers and high - precision servo motors is only 35%. The high hardware cost makes the average unit price of humanoid robots exceed 200,000 yuan, and it will still take time for large - scale civilian use. Currently, research institutes of state - owned enterprises in aerospace, ordnance, etc. frequently cooperate across industries with private robot enterprises, sharing basic scientific research results, opening up the link from "frontier scientific research to market - oriented mass production", and promoting the transformation of embodied intelligence from concept products to real - economy applications.

Summary

The entry of private enterprises into the three hard - core fields of nuclear power, semiconductors, and humanoid robots is a microcosm of the market - oriented reform of China's high - end science and technology industry. The private economy, with 185 million market entities, has long jumped out of traditional sectors such as clothing and light industry and has become a new incremental force in the construction of major national equipment. The co - existence of state - owned and private enterprises is not a zero - sum game that breaks the original industry pattern. Instead, it builds a new industrial development model relying on the technological foundation of state - owned capital and the market vitality of private enterprises. As the industry access threshold continues to be optimized, more sectors such as high - end equipment and biomedicine will continue to open their doors to private enterprises in the future. State - owned and private capital will empower each other, continuously consolidate the foundation for the development of new - quality productive forces, and inject continuous endogenous impetus into the high - quality development of the domestic real economy.

— Some data and information are compiled from public media releases

This article is from the WeChat official account "Kailian Wealth Club". The author is Kailian Zhiduoxing. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.