Number of private enterprises in China exceeds 57m

As of March 31, over 57 million private enterprises were registered across China, accounting for 92.3 percent of all enterprises, according to data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation on April 21.

In the first quarter of 2025, 1.98 million new private enterprises were established nationwide, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent.

Of these, 836,000 firms—over 40 percent of the total—belonged to the "four new economies", which include new technologies, industries, business forms and business models.

Internet and modern IT services led this group, posting the fastest growth at 18 percent. By the end of March, 22.68 million private enterprises were operating within the "four new economies".

Emerging industries also saw expansion in Q1, with 94,000 new private enterprises registered in the next-gen IT industry; 46,000 in high-end equipment manufacturing; 254,000 in AI software R&D, and over 10,000 in the silver economy.

During the same period, 3.95 million new individual businesses were registered nationwide, of which 263,000 were in primary industries, 193,000 in the secondary industries and 3.49 million in the tertiary industries. Individual businesses in the tertiary industries had reached 111 million by March 31, representing nearly 90 percent of the total.