BEIJING, March 12 -- An index tracking the development of China's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) edged up in February, with sub-indices rallying across the board, data from an industry association showed Wednesday.

The SME development index rose by 0.8 points from the previous month to 89.8, the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises data showed.

In terms of sectors, sub-indices for the industry, transport, real estate, wholesale and retail sales, social services, and information transmission software sectors grew by 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 1.1, 0.5 and 0.8 points, respectively.

In terms of regions, the sub-indices for the east, central, west and northeast regions stood at 90.6, 90.5, 88.9 and 81.8, up 0.9, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.8 points, respectively.

In China, more than 90 percent of private companies are SMEs, and more than 90 percent of SMEs are private companies.