State-owned enterprises, in international practice, only refer to enterprises invested or controlled by the central government or the federal government of a country. In China, state-owned enterprises also include enterprises invested and controlled by local governments.

Private enterprises, referred to as private enterprises, companies or enterprise categories, refer to all non-public enterprises. Except for "state-owned" and "state holding", other types of enterprises are private enterprises as long as they have no state-owned capital.