Official statistics show that nearly 7,000 small and micro-sized enterprises were registered in Cixi, a county-level city of Ningbo, in 2020, a year-on-year uptick of 11 percent.

Cixi was ranked first among administrative areas in Ningbo in terms of the increase of joint-stock enterprises in 2020.

The city was also rated as excellent in the provincial assessment for the implementation of the three-year action plan to boost the growth of small and micro-sized enterprises.

The good performance is primarily due to local authorities' efforts in optimizing the business climate.

The city has already made offline business registration services available at township level and local small and micro enterprises can apply for loans by intellectual property pledge.

Last year, local authorities took measures such as waiving taxes and fees to help enterprises weather the COVID-19 epidemic. These measures benefited 132,600 small and micro businesses.

In addition, vocational training was provided to 6,200 employees from small and micro businesses throughout the year.

Bolstered by the strong vitality of the private sector, the total number of market entities in Cixi exceeded 180,000 in 2020, ranking first in Ningbo.