The State Administration for Market Regulation recently released data showing that as of the end of 2023, there were 124 million registered individual industrial and commercial households in China, accounting for 67.4% of the total number of business entities and supporting nearly 300 million people in employment. Throughout the year, 22.582 million new individual industrial and commercial households were established, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. Ren Duanping, Director of the Registration Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that as the "capillaries" of the industrial and consumer chains and the "nerve endings" of the market, the stable development of individual businesses has maintained the livelihoods of billions of households, demonstrating the strong vitality and resilience of China's economy. The State Council has issued the Regulations on Promoting the Development of Individual Businesses, providing legal protection for promoting the development of individual businesses. The State Administration for Market Regulation, together with 13 departments, has established a diversified assistance mechanism and launched the second "National Individual Industrial and Commercial Household Service Month" in July 2023. A total of 29200 individual industrial and commercial household symposiums were held, 4.2963 million individual industrial and commercial households were visited, and 174600 problem demands and practical difficulties were coordinated and resolved. At the same time, on the basis of pilot projects in 12 provinces, the State Administration for Market Regulation, together with 14 departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration of Taxation, and the State Administration of Financial Supervision, jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Carrying out Precise Classification and Assistance for Individual Industrial and Commercial Households to Improve Development Quality, clarifying the recognition mechanism and cultivation measures for the four types of individual industrial and commercial households, and promoting precise classification and assistance for the vast number of individual industrial and commercial households. Next, the State Administration for Market Regulation will guide various regions to improve classification standards, promote more precise policy measures from various regions and departments, and enhance the overall development quality of individual businesses. (Lai Xin She)