BEIJING — China registered a steady growth in the number of market entities last month, official data showed on April 27.

The number of newly-added market entities reached 2.95 million nationwide in March, up 19.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a press conference held by the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Of the new entities, about 2.1 million are private firms, a 24.2-percent increase year-on-year.

The administration said it has streamlined licensing procedures, lowered administrative costs and improved business services to help bolster the expansion of market entities.

Thanks to China's improvements in intellectual property rights protection and the business environment, the number of market entities increased by 100 million in the country over the past 10 years, according to the latest report released by the Office of the National Leading Group on the Fight against IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting.