Number of private firms in China exceeds 50m

The number of China's registered private firms exceeded 50 million as of early April, and 50.93 million by the end of May, 3.7 times increase from 2012 end (10.86 million), with the share of private firms in enterprises increased from 79.4 percent to 92.4 percent, People's Daily Overseas Edition reported on Sunday based on data from the State Administration for Market.

As per the administration, the development of private firms in China has been recovering so far this year, representing resilience and vitality. In the first five months, the country saw 3.76 million private firms registered, up 17.2 percent year-on-year, which was 6.5 percentage points faster than in the first quarter. Over the first five months, a total of 1.61 million private firms were revoked, up 1.43 percent year-on-year, and seeing a steady market withdrawal.

As of the end of May, the number of registered private firms in the four regions of East, Central, West and Northeast was 28.229 million, 10.51 million, 9.79 million and 2.40 million, accounting for 55.4 percent, 20.6 percent, 19.2 percent and 4.7 percent, of which the proportion of Central and West China increased, while the East and Northeast decreased. The five provinces with the largest number of private firms were Guangdong 6.97 million, Shandong 4.35 million, Jiangsu 3.85 million, Zhejiang 3.20 million and Henan 2.60 million, with Tibet autonoumous region, Chongqing, Hainan and Anhui experiencing the largest growth over the past decade.

By the end of May, the number of private firms in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries was 1.78 million, 10.32 million and 38.83 million, accounting for 3.5 percent, 20.3 percent and 76.2 percent, respectively. Since the beginning of this year, the newly established private firms are mainly concentrated in wholesale and retail, leasing and business services, scientific research and technical services, accounting for 34.1 percent, 13.9 percent and 12.1 percent respectively. The accommodation and catering industry recovered better, with 69,000 new private enterprises established, up 44.4 percent year-on-year.

The epidemic has brought difficulties and challenges to the survival and development of private firms, and also provided historical opportunities for enterprise innovation and transformation. By the end of May, China's private firms in "four new economies," which refer to new technology, new business patterns, new development modes, and new industry, have exceeded 25 million. From January to May, 2.15 million private firms of the "four new economies" were newly established nationwide, accounting for 57.1 percent of the newly established private enterprises.