Despite Xi’s call to return to work, by the end of February, even in the most active provinces, only an estimated 30 percent of small and medium-sized businesses had reopened, as against 60 percent for large industrial corporations.63 Despite the amount of attention lavished on the likes of Foxconn and the giant state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, almost all of which are privately owned, account for 99.8 percent of registered companies in China and employ almost 80 percent of workers. Together, this huge mass of small businesses contributes more than 60 percent of
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