Shanghai sees surge of new registered companies and business entities
A staffer of the city's market regulator answers an inquiry.
Shanghai had registered more than 3 million market entities by December 20, growing 9.2 percent from a year earlier, under the city's continuous efforts in registration reform to spur market entities' vitality, local market regulators announced on Wednesday.
Among the 3.1897 million market entities, 2.674 million are companies, and the number of market entities rose by 9.2 percent from 2020, according to the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.
There are now 107.4 businesses per 1,000 persons in the city, ranking No.1 in the nation.
As of December 20, the city had registered 520,100 new market entities this year, up 11.6 percent from last year.
A total of 122 foreign-funded companies with a registered capital above US$30 million had registered in the city this year as of the third quarter, surging 54.43 percent from the same period last year.
A staffer handles market entity registration.
The city has launched a new commitment system to streamline registration procedures.
The reform cuts the licensing approval time in certain industries such as low-risk food, measurement instruments, and industrial products.
If companies commit to meeting certain criteria, they will receive a license immediately for manufacturing.
For industrial products, the review and approval duration of manufacturing licenses is cut to one day from the previous 30 days under the reform.
The electronic versions of business licenses are widely used in many areas.
Authorities began to issue electronic versions of licenses in April last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, enabling companies to sign contracts and conduct business operations online and apply for services such as publishing annual reports, handling tax affairs, and processing employees' social insurance online with e-licenses and seals.
"Shanghai has a superior investment environment and a large number of research and development professionals," said Yan Yongsheng, general manager of the Shanghai headquarters of Xiaomi Group, which set up a research company and a financial company in Shanghai this year.
The administration has also stepped up a crackdown on violations of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition regulations to ensure a fair competitive environment.
