BEIJING - An economist called for more efforts to stimulate the private sector as the Chinese economy has entered a new period that requires a higher level of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Given a new era of reform and opening up, China needs to ponder how to further propel the private sector in a bid to make the broader economy more vibrant, said Fan Gang, president of the China Development Institute, a Shenzhen-based think tank.

Fan, a former member of the central bank's monetary policy committee, made the remarks during a two-day session of the China Development Forum starting Sunday.

China will increasingly rely on endogenous innovation to spur economic development in the future, a process that needs risk takers from private businesses, while state firms, always slower and more cautious in decision-making, are relatively less vigorous and not that willing to take risks, Fan said.

The private sector witnessed booming growth thanks to the country's reform and opening up during the past decades.

A State Council conference in August hailed private businesses as a "vibrant force" in national economic and social development, which currently provide more than half of governments' tax incomes, 60 percent of China's GDP, 70 percent of technological innovation and 80 percent of urban jobs.

There has been a raft of favorable policies that protect and motivate private entrepreneurs and create a better business environment for them, Fan said.

The government has reiterated its stance will not change, vowing stronger financing support, bigger tax reductions and better intellectual property protection to further encourage private companies, in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises.