THE city's private companies have developed rapidly this year with increasing number and sales revenues. In the first half of this year, the added value made by private companies reached 162.28 billion yuan, increasing by 11.7 percent than the same period of last year. As of the end of August, there has been 131,000 private companies and 324,000 individual business operators registered in the city. Five private companies have listed this year and the total sales revenue of the small-and-medium enterprisers (SME) has increased by 21.1 percent than last year. More than 858,000 people were working at SMEs. More preferential policies were announced to help develop SMEs, providing financial services and guarantees, law services and market platforms to support their development. (Wang Yuanyuan, Wang Yu) | 