Pakistani businessman Ali Kamran (right) receives a business license in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on July 31, 2025, as his firm becomes the city's 10,000th foreign-funded company. [Photo/Tide News]

Zhejiang had about 7.49 million registered individual businesses by the end of 2025, each hiring an average of 1.92 workers, according to a recent report by Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Market Regulation.

The report reviews the current state of self-employed businesses in the province and outlines policy directions for further support. The report showed that individual businesses accounted for 64.36 percent of all market entities in Zhejiang, up 5.55 percent year-on-year.

Growth in scale has been accompanied by steady improvements in operating quality. Monitoring data for the fourth quarter of 2025 showed a normal operation rate of 78.20 percent among individual businesses. Together, they supported nearly 12 million jobs, accounting for more than 30 percent of total employment in the province.

By sector, 207,200 individual businesses operated in the primary industry, 851,400 in the secondary industry, and 6.431 million in the tertiary industry, meaning more than 80 percent were engaged in services.

Wholesale and retail remained the largest category, with 4.28 million businesses, followed by manufacturing with 778,300, accommodation and catering with 766,500, resident services and repairs with 604,400, and leasing and business services with 325,500.

The report also noted faster growth in emerging service sectors. Individual businesses engaged in scientific research and technical services, information transmission services, and cultural, sports, and entertainment activities recorded year-on-year increases of 26.42 percent, 26.00 percent, and 17.06 percent, respectively.