Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province is home to a total of 1,005,200 market entities, a growth of 76 percent since 2014. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The fast growth of market entities reflects the strong vitality of the private sector, experts say.

The number of market entities in Ningbo has exceeded one million, according to a statement from local authorities on Nov 21.

The city in East China's Zhejiang province is currently home to a total of 1,005,200 market entities, a growth of 76 percent since 2014, according to data from the Ningbo municipal bureau of market supervision.

From January to October, 151,000 new market entities were registered in Ningbo, while the total figure for the past three years was 450,000.

Chen Yuangang, spokesman of the Ningbo municipal bureau of market supervision, pointed out that the private economy is the prime contributor to the rapid growth in the number of market entities.

Official data show that the number of private market entities in Ningbo stands at 967,000, accounting for 96.2 percent of the city's total, including 380,000 private companies and more than 580,000 individually-owned businesses.

The private sector in Ningbo has seen rapid yet stable growth and has become a major engine behind the city's economic development.

Official data show that the private economy generates 63 percent of the city's GDP, 62 percent of fiscal revenue and 85 percent of jobs, while 95 percent of the city's listed companies and high-tech enterprises are private.

The newly registered private entities are the main drivers of entrepreneurship and innovation, infusing continuous vitality into the local market, said Chen.

Notably, with the rise of the internet and the upgrading of consumption, the modern service sector has become a hotspot of mass entrepreneurship and innovation in Ningbo.

In the first ten months, a total of 46,126 companies in the service sector were registered, accounting for 80 percent of the total over the period.

The robust market is largely thanks to the city's optimized climate business and government services.

Local authorities have rolled out a series of measures to streamline approval procedures for company registration. As of the end of October, the city handled 36,000 company registration applications online.

The government's move to ease the burden on enterprises has also stimulated market vitality.

Ningbo slashed 26.2 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in taxes and fees in the first three quarters of this year, as per statistics recently released by local taxation authorities.