The latest statistics show that east China's Zhejiang Province had 146,400 private enterprises by the end of 1999, ranking first nationwide.
Also first in the country was the total registered capital of Zhejiang's private economy, reaching 140.4 billion yuan; total industrial output value, reaching nearly 399.4 billion yuan; and the combined sales volume, 347.8 billion yuan.
The province's private enterprises exported 2.23 million yuan worth of goods last year, up 117 percent over the previous year.
Statistics also show that a total of 81,700 laid-off workers were employed by the private sector in the province last year.
