Rollout of two platforms to help small businesses

The State Administration for Market Regulation, China's top market regulator, rolled out two platforms to improve services for self-employed and private businesses as part of the country's broader push to support all market players for greater vitality.

The latest data from the administration showed that among China's over 150 million market entities, 102 million are self-employed businesses and 43.17 million are small and private firms. They depend on accessible services and information to survive.

One of the new platforms integrates the portal to must-have administrative business procedures of different places in China. Self-employed and private businesses can apply for company registration, variation and removal on the integrated platform.

The other platform offers channels to understand, apply, and inquire about relevant policies and information. For instance, they can know about current petty loans from different banks and financial institutions and how to apply for them.

"The move is to further support the development of the country's self-employed and private businesses, to relieve their bottlenecks while doing business, and to make business-benefit policies more accessible for them," said Yang Hongcan, head of registration of the SAMR.

The recent Central Economic Work Conference said China will use its macroeconomic policies to continuously stimulate the vitality of market entities next year.

"Such efforts have offered some down-to-earth help for us self-employed businesses. A more timely policy will help bail out some temporary difficulties, especially those arising from COVID-19," said Guo Hua, head of Yuebin Restaurant in Beijing, which is the country's first registered self-employed restaurant.

According to Yang from the SAMR, the country's self-employed and private businesses have been developing rapidly and have played an important role in stabilizing economic growth. "The country will closely track their operational conditions and give stronger policy support," he said.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said private enterprises contribute on average around 50 percent of tax revenue, 60 percent of GDP, 70 percent of technological innovation, and 80 percent of urban employment.

"To some extent, China's economy will be in good momentum if private and smaller businesses remain sound. Many of them are increasingly being recognized for their role as leaders for new concepts and new business models," said Wang Peng, associate professor at the Hillhouse Research Institute at the Renmin University of China in Beijing.

"But they tend to become vulnerable while facing external pressures like soaring raw material costs. So more targeted efforts are needed to relieve the challenge," he added.