China had 39.21 million privately-run businesses in the secondary and tertiary industries by the end of 2004, according to the first national economic census published on Tuesday.

The census, jointly published by the Leading Group of First National Economic Census of the State Council and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed there were 5.887 million privately-run businesses in the secondary industry in China, and 33.329 million in the tertiary industry, by the end of 2004.

These businesses employed 94.224 million people, or 30.5 percent of the total workforce in the secondary and tertiary industries.

Most of the privately-owned businesses focus on transportation, wholesale and retail sales, catering and services.

The number of privately-run industrial businesses stood at 5.323 million, accounting for 13.6 percent of the total. Those engaged in transportation sector came to 6.217 million, or 15.9 percent of the total.

Privately-owned wholesale and retail sale businesses amounted to 18.311 million, making up 46.7 percent of the total, while those engaged in the catering and service industries stood at 2.939 million and 4.138 million, accounting for 7.5 percent and 10.6 percent of the total, respectively.

The census, which formally began on Dec. 31, 2004 and was the first in China, was designed to draw an economic panorama of the country's fast-expanding secondary and tertiary industries and complete a database covering all economic sectors.

The census was also expected to help policy-makers and experts have a better understanding of the overall situation of the two sectors so as to help policy-makers draft China's economic and social development program during 2006-2010 and formulate macro-regulation policies and industrial readjustment and restructuring.

Nearly 10 million statisticians and volunteers completed the registration of 5 million corporate personnel, 4 million industrial enterprises and more than 30 million privately-owned enterprises during the census, according to the NBS.

The survey, covering such economic sectors as construction, transportation, and scientific research, collects information on staff size, financial conditions and productivity management.

Source: Xinhua