China has seen a rapid growth of non-public enterprises, but the public companies still accounted for 57 percent of the 2154 large industrial companies in 2004, a spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

There were 1185 state-owned and state-holding companies, 77 fewer than in 2003, and 44 cooperative companies, down by 17 on the 2003 figure.

The NBS said the statistics of large industrial enterprises were generated according to the national economic survey of 2004 using three criteria, namely, revenue from principal operations (300 million yuan, or 37 million US dollars, or above), total assets (400 million yuan, or 49 million US dollars, or above) and employment (2000 or above).

The number of joint-stock companies was up by 66 to 1109, a 17.6 percent increase. The number of companies with foreign and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao investment shot up by 115 to 476 for the same period, a 31.9 percent increase, while the number of private companies almost doubled in 2004 to reach 80, a 47.5 percent increase.

An analysis of companies which have principal operating revenue of more than ten billion yuan shows that five fields account for 120 companies or 75.5 percent of the total: steel, with 33 companies; electronic and communication devices, 28; crude oil refining, 24; power, 22; and automobiles, 13.

Source: Xinhua