China saw fast growth in entrepreneurship in the first half of this year with increasing registration of companies and self-employed entrepreneurs.

The number of new market entities reached 8.87 million in H1, up 13.2 percent year on year with 49,000 new companies or self-employed entrepreneurs registered each day on average, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Thursday.

A total of 2.911 million new companies were registered in H1, up 11.1 percent year on year, while 5.809 million self-employed entrepreneurs have been registered, up 14.8 percent year on year.

Applications for trademarks also grew quickly in H1, up 30.8 percent year on year, pointing to growing awareness of brands among market entities.

Meanwhile, new companies played a bigger role in boosting employment in the second quarter, with their contribution to employment rising by 11.2 percentage points from the first quarter.