Taizhou had 61 listed companies - the fourth highest in Zhejiang province - as of the end of 2021, according to a white paper on listed companies recently released by the finance office of the Taizhou municipal government.

Of the 61 listed companies, five went public in 2021, accounting for over 10 percent of Zhejiang's total, and 55 were privately owned, an indicator of the robust growth momentum in the local private sector, according to the paper.

Last year, the 61 companies generated an average of 258.39 billion yuan ($39.75 billion) in revenue, which was 44.62 billion yuan more than the previous year and a yearly uptick of 20.87 percent.

Among them, 53 reported positive growth in revenue, and five companies including Tianshan Aluminum, STO Express and Supor saw their annual revenue top 10 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, their net profit attributable to shareholders of parent companies shrank by 20.4 percent to 16.19 billion yuan. Thirty-three companies, or 54.1 percent of them, achieved positive growth in this regard.

In 2021, capital raised by listed companies in Taizhou hit 11.21 billion yuan. Nineteen companies among them completed 19 mergers and acquisitions.

Over 70 percent of listed companies from the city are engaged in medical biology, mechanical equipment, automobile, basic chemical industries.

Last year, R&D expenses for most of these companies ranged from 3 percent to 6 percent of their operating revenue, and only 11 companies reported a ratio of less than 3 percent, according to the report.