BEIJING - China witnessed a record number of new market entities last year, marking improved market sentiment, showed new data on Thursday.

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Some 11.32 million entities were registered in 2013, with their aggregate capital standing at 10.99 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion), according to analysis released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Annual growth in the number of registrations was raised to 19.6 percent last year, markedly faster than the 1.8-percent pace in 2012, as China's economic growth stabilized.

Market entities, as the basic economic unit, reflect the state of a nation's economy through shifts in their number, growth rate and structure.

The analysis concluded that circumstances have been improving with optimizing industrial structure and reinforced economic dynamics.

By the end of 2013, China had 60.63 million market entities, a record high, with total capital reaching 101.2 trillion yuan.

The number of privately owned companies grew fast, accounting for 82.1 percent of all the country's entities, indicating great enthusiasm for private investment.

By sector, the number of enterprises engaged in tertiary industry stood at 11.01 million by the end of last year, taking up 72.1 percent of all the entities, while the real estate sector welcomed 79,500 new companies.

The administration predicted the number of entities would increase further in 2014, as a new business registration system with lower thresholds takes effect on March 1.

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