BEIJING - China's individual businesses amounted to 36.01 million units in the first half of this year, with a registered capital of 1.5 trillion yuan ($230 billion) and 73.34 million employees, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

From January to June, the newly registered individual businesses totalled 3.55 million units, up 7.73 percent year-on-year, involving a capital of 240 billion yuan, 19.1 percent higher compared with the same period of last year, said SAIC.

Individual industry and commerce boomed from only 100,000 in 1978, the start of the reform and opening up in China, and now play an unparalleled role in offering jobs and boosting economy.