The number of self-employed businesses in Zhejiang's scientific research and technical services sector rose 30.71 percent year-on-year by the end of June, the fastest growth among all sectors for the sixth consecutive month.

Zhejiang had 7.28 million registered self-employed businesses, accounting for 62.66 percent of all market entities in the province.

More than 80 percent operated in the service sector. Wholesale and retail accounted for 4.16 million businesses, or 57.12 percent of the total. Manufacturing represented 10.13 percent, accommodation and catering 10.05 percent, household services, repairs, and other services 8.07 percent, and leasing and business services 4.45 percent.

Together, the five largest sectors accounted for nearly 90 percent of Zhejiang's self-employed businesses.

Growth was faster in several knowledge-intensive sectors. The number of self-employed businesses in information transmission, software, and information technology services rose 23.21 percent, while those in culture, sports, and entertainment increased 13.53 percent.

In Hangzhou, the number of self-employed businesses in the scientific research and technical services sector rose 84.83 percent.

Jinhua had the largest number of self-employed businesses at 1.47 million, followed by Hangzhou and Wenzhou. The three cities accounted for 50.25 percent of the provincial total, while Hangzhou recorded Zhejiang's fastest overall growth at 8.23 percent.