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As you’d expect for the world’s most populous nation, there are a huge number of Chinese companies. But where in China are they located? Are there certain provinces with high concentrations of companies?
In this article we find out which provinces have the highest and lowest number of companies, and see how this compares against their population figures.
By analyzing the number of companies per 1000 population we have identified the provinces with the highest concentration of Chinese companies.
We have previously identified the total number of companies in China but for this article collecting the necessary data for all of the provinces proved to be quite a challenge.
No central database of statistics could be found so we have based our figures mainly on reports emanating from each of the various provincial AIC branches. Data for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan was more straightforward to identify and has been included.
A data table is provided at the end of this article including a description of the information source for the number of companies in each province.
Our calculations identified that the province with the highest concentration of Chinese companies is Hong Kong, with a huge 183 registered companies per 1000 people.
There are many reasons why Hong Kong has a very high number of company registrations, for example because it is rated very highly internationally for ease of doing business.
After that, we expected to see the major 1st Tier China municipalities of Shanghai and Beijing stand our prominently. Although both have a high concentration of companies, the ratios were not as high as we had expected – Zhejiang province actually has a higher number of companies per population than Shanghai!
It is not surprising to see that China’s provinces with the strongest economies all have a high concentration of companies – Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong all rank near the top.
Meanwhile, there are low concentrations of companies in China’s less developed areas inland provinces, most notably in Henan, Hunan, Gansu and Guangxi.
This chart identifies the number of companies per 1000 people in each province of China, in order of highest concentration to least.
| Province | Companies /1000 Pop. | Province | Companies /1000 Pop. | Province | Companies /1000 Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | 183 | Jilin | 64 | Shanxi | 48 |
| Macao | 98 | Liaoning | 62 | Jiangxi | 47 |
| Beijing | 95 | Guizhou | 56 | Hebei | 47 |
| Zhejiang | 87 | Tianjin | 55 | Ningxia | 47 |
| Shanghai | 83 | Shaanxi | 53 | Xinjiang | 47 |
| Jiangsu | 78 | Qinghai | 53 | Heilongjiang | 45 |
| Guangdong | 76 | Yunnan | 52 | Guangxi | 45 |
| Hubei | 72 | Sichuan | 51 | Gansu | 43 |
| Hainan | 70 | Tibet | 51 | Hunan | 39 |
| Chongqing | 67 | Fujian | 48 | Henan | 38 |
| Inner Mongolia | 67 | Anhui | 48 | Taiwan | 28 |
| Shandong | 65 |
Plotting these results on a map shows that the regions with the highest concentration of Chinese companies are the developed coastal provinces.
The northern provinces of Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia also have fairly high concentrations, at least relative to the less developed inland provinces.
Note: zooming in on the map reveals the names of each province.
A full table of the data collected for this article is displayed below.
| Province | Companies (per 1,000 people) | Population | No. of Companies | Information Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anhui | 47.80 | 59500510 | 2844200 | News report from MOFCOM, Apr 2016 |
| Beijing | 94.84 | 19612368 | 1860000 | News report from Beijing government press conference, Feb 2016 |
| Chongqing | 67.18 | 28846170 | 1937900 | Chongqing AIC statistics, Jan 2016 |
| Fujian | 47.66 | 36894216 | 1758310 | Fujian AIC statistics, July 2014 |
| Gansu | 43.48 | 25575254 | 1112000 | News report from Gansu Daily Newspaper, Jan 2015 |
| Guangdong | 76.49 | 104303132 | 7977800 | Guangdong AIC statistics, Apr 2016 |
| Guangxi | 45.28 | 46026629 | 2084000 | News report from Guangxi Daily Newspaper, Jan 2016 |
| Guizhou | 56.26 | 34746468 | 1955000 | News report from Guizhou AIC, Apr 2016 |
| Hainan | 69.88 | 8671518 | 606005 | Hainan AIC statistics, Feb 2015 |
| Hebei | 46.90 | 71854202 | 3370100 | News report from Hebei AIC, Apr 2016 |
| Heilongjiang | 44.61 | 38312224 | 1709000 | News report from Heilongjiang AIC, July 2014 |
| Henan | 38.01 | 94023567 | 3573600 | News report from Henan AIC, Jan 2016 |
| Hong Kong | 183.16 | 7061200 | 1293295 | Hong Kong Company Registry statistics, Mar 2016 |
| Hubei | 72.12 | 57237740 | 4127800 | News report from Hubei AIC, Jan 2016 |
| Hunan | 39.34 | 65683722 | 2583700 | News report from Hunan Daily Newspaper, Jan 2016 |
| Inner Mongolia | 67.37 | 24706321 | 1664400 | News report from Inner Mongolia government, Jan 2016 |
| Jiangsu | 77.95 | 78659903 | 6131600 | Jiangsu AIC statistics, Apr 2016 |
| Jiangxi | 46.67 | 44567475 | 2080100 | News report from Jiangxi government press conference, Jun 2015 |
| Jilin | 63.92 | 27462297 | 1755400 | Jilin AIC statistics, Apr 2016 |
| Liaoning | 62.45 | 43746323 | 2732000 | News report from Liaoning AIC, May 2016 |
| Macau | 97.77 | 552300 | 54000 | Macau govrnment statistics, May 2016 |
| Ningxia | 46.95 | 6176900 | 290000 | News report from Ningxia News, Sep 2013 |
| Qinghai | 53.03 | 5626722 | 298400 | Qinghai AIC statistics, Jan 2016 |
| Shaanxi | 52.51 | 37327378 | 1960200 | News report from Shanxi government press conference, Mar 2016 |
| Shandong | 64.53 | 95793065 | 6182000 | News report from Shandong government press conference, Mar 2016 |
| Shanghai | 83.19 | 23019148 | 1914900 | Shanghai AIC statistics, Feb 2016 |
| Shanxi | 48.39 | 35712111 | 1727997 | Shanxi AIC statistics, Apr 2016 |
| Sichuan | 50.73 | 80418200 | 4079400 | Sichuan AIC statistics, Apr 2016 |
| Taiwan | 28.11 | 23499404 | 660643 | Taiwan's Department of Commerce, Mar 2016 |
| Tianjin | 54.55 | 12938224 | 705800 | Tianjin AIC statistics, Jan 2016 |
| Tibet | 51.36 | 3002166 | 154200 | News report from Tibet government press conference, Jan 2016 |
| Xinjiang | 47.31 | 21813334 | 1032000 | News report from Xinjiang AIC, Jul 2015 |
| Yunnan | 52.39 | 45966239 | 2408300 | News report from Yunnan AIC, Apr 2016 |
| Zhejiang | 86.54 | 54426891 | 4710000 | News report from Zhejiang AIC, Jan 2016 |
N.b. Population data is taken from China’s 2010 National Census.
Now we we know which provinces have a high concentration of companies, but do you want to know which provinces foreign companies do business in?
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Matt Slater
Author
Hi there, I'm Matt, the founder of China Checkup. Originally from the UK, I am now based in Brisbane, Australia.
Frustrated by the scarcity of concise, high-quality and timely information about Chinese companies, I setup China Checkup whilst living in Shanghai in 2013.
My team are proud that China Checkup's company verification reports have now helped thousands of clients from all corners of the world to do business in China more safely.