BEIJING — The number of market entities in China topped 150 million on the back of government efforts to streamline the process for starting a business, official data showed.

According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, of the total, about 100 million emerged in the past 10 years.

The number of individual businesses exceeded 100 million.

China's market entities established since 2013 paid 3.81 trillion yuan (about $593.5 billion) in taxes in the first three quarters alone, nearing last year's annual total, official data shows.

China has strived to enhance policy-based support to stimulate the vitality of market entities to ensure they survive and thrive.