国内英语新闻: Reform and opening-up sees market entity surge in China

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The reform and opening-up has unleashed market vitality in China, with the number of its market entities rocketing during the past 40 years.

The number of China's market entities surged from 490,000 at the early stage of the reform and opening-up to 109 million at the end of November this year, Ma Zhengqi, deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said at a press conference Tuesday.

A breakdown of the data showed individual and private market entities accounted for 95 percent of the total, more than 60 percent of the country's GDP and more than 80 percent of total employment in urban areas, Ma said.

As the country seeks to shift the economy toward a growth model that draws more strength from services, the tertiary industry has seen fast expansion, with the number of market entities in the sector accounting for 77 percent of the total.

Ma said the administration will continue to promote reforms to streamline regulation and delegate powers, improve regulation and optimize services as well as deepen reform to improve the country's business environment.