The number of newly incorporated companies stood at 748 in the first quarter of 2006, a year-on- year rise of 4.9 percent, according to official statistics issued Monday.

The figures released by the government-run Statistics and Census Service showed that the 748 companies were incorporated with 191.27 million patacas (23.9 million U.S. dollars) in registered capital, a year-on-year increase of 76.7 percent.

These newly incorporated companies engaged mostly in wholesale and retail sector (203), followed by industries of construction ( 178), business services (147) and real estate (64), the figures showed.

The figures displayed that 59.5 percent of the stockholders of the newly incorporated companies are Cacao residents.

Macao, a region with a population of over 480,000, has maintained two-digit GDP growth rate since 1999, when it returned to the motherland.

Source: Xinhua