In China's largest city, one out of every 30 people of employable age owns a private business, a recent survey found.

Conducted by the Shanghai Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau, the survey found 3.1 percent of the 25,000 citizens surveyed operate their own private businesses. An additional 1.8 percent of respondents said they were making concrete preparations to start their own business, bringing the proportion of private entrepreneurs to 4.9 percent.

The percentage is higher than the 3.3 percent reported in Hong Kong and 4.3 percent in Taiwan, but lags behind the southern city of Shenzhen, where 10.5 percent of the working population are private business owners, said Sheng Zuhuan, a labor and social security official.

The survey also found 13.1 percent of Shanghai people plan to start their own businesses in the coming year. Among unemployed respondents the proportion was nearly 23 percent.

Men are more enthusiastic than women about starting a business, and those between 35 and 44 years old are the keenest entrepreneurs.

Most residents support enterprising endeavors and are tolerant of abortive business attempts, too. About 84 percent of parents surveyed said they approved of their children's private business plans and were ready to give a helping hand.

The respondents, aged between 16 and 64, were randomly picked by the department which did the survey.

Shanghai has encouraged its unemployed population to start their own businesses since 1996, with tax exemption policies and easier access to small loans.

(China Daily November 7, 2005)