Entrepreneurship, innovation on the rise in Beijing: Report

BEIJING - The level of Beijing's mass entrepreneurship and innovation has been on the rise over recent years, according to a report released by the municipal bureau of statistics.

The comprehensive index of entrepreneurship and innovation, a gauge used by the bureau, was at 111.4 in 2017, up 11.4 points year-on-year. The index measures policy environment, resources such as capital and talent, market vitality, patent numbers and growth powered by new forms of economy.

The report found entrepreneurs received more than 486 billion yuan ($70.4 billion) through angel investment, venture capital and participation certificates in 2017, surging 95.2 percent year-on-year.

It noted the small and micro-sized enterprises' (SMEs) satisfaction rate on the government's cutting red tape has increased 14 percent. Statistics also show a 14.5 percent rise on the SMEs that receive policy support including funding, tax cuts, financial support and government procurement.

According to the report, SMEs in Beijing filed around 17,000 patent applications in 2017, 18.4 percent higher than the year before. Among all the enterprises in Zhongguancun, a technology hub in Beijing, over half of them were set up by entrepreneurs born after 1980.