BEIJING, Jan. 31 -- A total of 124 million individually owned businesses had been registered in China by the end of last year, accounting for 67.4 percent of business entities nationwide, said the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Wednesday.

These businesses provided employment for nearly 300 million people in China, said Ren Duanping, an official with the SAMR, at a press conference.

About 22.58 million such businesses were newly registered in 2023, representing a year-on-year expansion of 11.4 percent, according to Ren.

The steady development of individually owned businesses has helped to sustain hustle and bustle on the streets and maintain the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of families, demonstrating the strong vitality and resilience of the Chinese economy, said Ren.