Mar. 22 – Shenzhen reported a rising number of small and medium-sized enterprises created last year after the global financial crisis caused a spate of bankruptcies and factory closures in late 2008.

An estimated 26,000 SMEs were established in Shenzhen last year bringing the total number of SMEs in the city to 305,000. According to a municipal executive meeting held this month, 99.2 percent of the companies in Shenzhen are now SMEs.

In 2009, small and medium-sized enterprises above designated size in the city amounted to 8,718 – accounting for 98.7 percent of the municipal total. The industrial added value achieved by the SMEs above designated size in Shenzhen stood at more than RMB196 billion, up 5.9 percent from the previous year.

The tax revenue contributed by the municipal private enterprises and SMEs totaled RMB87.797 billion, up 2.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 52.4 percent of the total. Moreover, jobs held by employees of small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for roughly 80 percent of total employment in the city.