Who are the Chinese private entrepreneurs?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the key micro factors that are shaping Chinese entrepreneurship: socio‐political origins, motivations, educational attainment, organisational forms and power structures. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs a questionnaire survey approach, involving a sample of private entrepreneurs who responded in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Findings The findings reveal a remarkable change in the origin of private entrepreneurs, from a lower to a higher social background. It emerges that individuals were primarily motivated to become private entrepreneurs by positive factors. Increasingly, since the late 1990s, individuals who chose private entrepreneurship exhibited much‐improved educational attainments. Significantly, many enterprises have not yet separated ownership from the management function. Research limitations/implications The data under investigation are not yet fully explored. Further analyses of the impact that the changing attributes of private entrepreneurs could have on entrepreneurial firms is planned for the near future. Practical implications From the perspective of social changes, there is a need for differential policies to support novice entrepreneurs who originated from a poor social background. Current business governance indicate a tough task to create an organisational structure and management style that would maintain the entrepreneurial spirit and accommodate the needs for control, delegation, and co‐ordination within the organisation. Originality/value The paper uses the newly available nationwide survey data to explore the attributes of private entrepreneurs.