Abstract: As a vital force driving Chinese modernization, the private economy plays a significant role in fostering new quality productive forces. Based on the panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2012 to 2023, this study empirically examines the impact of the private economy on new quality productive forces and its transmission mechanisms. The findings reveal that the private economy significantly drives the development of new quality productive forces; heterogeneity tests indicate that this driving effect is uneven, with a more pronounced impact in the eastern regions, areas with higher human capital levels, and regions with greater marketization;mechanism analysis demonstrates that technological breakthroughs, optimized factor allocation, and industrial structure upgrading serve as key transmission channels through which the private economy influences new quality productive forces. To enhance the private economy's role in empowering new quality productive forces, the following measures can be adopted: unwaveringly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the private economy to accelerate the growth of new quality productive forces; promoting coordinated regional development as a focal point to steadily advance new quality productive forces; and leveraging technological innovation as the driving force, optimized factor allocation as the support, and industrial transformation and upgrading as the carrier to facilitate the emergence of new quality productive forces.

Key words: private economy, new quality productive forces, technological breakthroughs, optimizing factor allocation, industrial structure upgrading