People shop and dine at a shopping mall in Beijing's Wukesong area on October 6, 2022, during the weeklong National Day holidays. Photo: VCG

The number of enterprises in China rose from more than 13 million to more than 51 million in the past decade, close to the number of US and EU companies combined, data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) showed on Monday.

The SAMR said that the total number of market players in China had risen by 100 million since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, a historic breakthrough showing China's vast market potential. 

As of the end of August 2022, the number of registered market entities reached 163 million, compared with 55 million at the end of 2012, a net increase of over 100 million with an average annual growth rate of 12 percent, the SAMR said. 

Also, individual industrial and commercial households increased from 40.6 million to 109 million, another record high. 

The number of private enterprises in China rose from more than 10 million at the end of 2012 to more than 47 million as of the end of August 2022, and the proportion of private enterprises increased from less than 80 percent to more than 90 percent, the SAMR said. 

The overall strength of private enterprises has also been greatly enhanced, and more and more private enterprises have continued to enter the Fortune 500 list. 

China is still a hot spot for international investment. The number of foreign-invested enterprises increased from 441,000 to 668,000, an increase of more than 50 percent.

The common development of market entities with various types of ownership fully demonstrates the advantages and vitality of the basic socialist economic system with Chinese characteristics, the SAMR said. 

The SAMR said that even facing the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, China's market entities have continued to grow since 2020, with a net increase of more than 37 million, accounting for 35 percent of the total net increase in the past decade, reflecting the "great resilience" of the Chinese economy. 

Behind the continuous development and growth of market entities is the fundamental change of China's commercial system in the process of deepening the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics, the SAMR said, noting that the average start-up time for Chinese enterprises had been reduced from more than one month to less than four working days.

China has been a global leader in improving its business environment, the SAMR said. Since the launch of reform and opening-up, the global ranking of China's business environment jumped from 96 to 31. 

Global Times