China saw a surge in new company registrations after the country took steps to streamline the process for starting a business in March, official data shows.

    About 1.6 million new companies have been registered since the registration reform, rising 64.48 percent from the same period last year, statistics from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce showed.

    Registered capital of these new companies totaled 8.22 trillion yuan (1.33 trillion U.S. dollars), up 69.09 percent year on year.

    China lifted restrictions on minimum registered capital, payment deadlines, down payment ratio and cash ratio of registered capital on March 1, a move aimed at encouraging start-ups and energizing the economy.

    In July, the number of newly registered firms in the primary sector rose 3.39 percent year on year to 13,200, while that for the secondary industry and the tertiary industry reached 57,800 and 265,800, up 33.76 percent and 66.42 percent year on year, respectively.

    By the end of July, the number of all types of registered market entities in China came in at 64.99 million, with registered capital totaling 116.94 trillion yuan.(Xinhua)