China sees rising number of new firms

BEIJING - The number of newly-registered enterprises in China surged 27.63 percent year on year in 2013 as the country implemented measures to streamline business administration, official figures showed on Monday.

A total of 2.5 million new companies were set up last year, according to a report released by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

The fast rise in the number of new companies indicated increased vitality of the market, the administration said in the report.

Amid economic downward pressure both at home and abroad, China made efforts to facilitate business registration last year, including removing the minimum capital requirements, replacing the annual inspection of companies with a reporting system, and loosening controls over sites for business operation.

The SAIC report also showed China had 15.28 million businesses by the end of last year, up 11.8 percent year on year. Their registered capital rose 17.37 percent from a year earlier to 96.88 trillion yuan ($16.03 trillion).