Private enterprises in Jinan have been responding to domestic and international market changes by choosing a development path marked by "digital intelligence" transformation.

For example, Jinan Richens Electronics Co, a national high-tech enterprise integrating research, production, and sales, primarily manufactures new intelligent water meters while also producing smart gas meters, heat meters, and other intelligent instruments. Its smart water meters and systems are widely used in urban water management, allowing intelligent management and playing a key role in the "smart water services" sector.

Fangyuan Shiye Group is a comprehensive joint-stock enterprise group involved in intelligent engineering equipment, steel structure design, manufacturing, construction, and general contracting. The group's intelligent equipment R&D team has independently developed intelligent engineering equipment, such as high-altitude concrete pouring platforms and tunnel wall construction platforms for high-speed railway tunnels. These innovations have been used in major international projects, filling gaps in industry intelligentization and information technology.

By the end of 2023, Jinan was home to 1.53 million private entities, accounting for 98.6 percent of the total market entities. Among these, two new companies had annual revenues exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.37 billion), and 10 had revenues over 1 billion yuan. Additionally, three industry alliances were established in digital security, intelligent manufacturing, and additive manufacturing.

In recent years, Jinan's private economy has been flourishing, with the number of private market entities growing from 878,000 to the current 1.53 million, an average annual growth rate of 31.5 percent. The private sector's contribution to Jinan's tax revenue reached 43.4 percent, a 24.3 percent increase, while its share of sales revenue was 42.5 percent, up by 5.5 percent. The growth has injected new vitality into Jinan's economic development.