A total of 3,115 enterprises have settled in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, Fujian province, as of April 7, a 48.25 percent increase over last year, Pingtan Times reported Monday.

Since its establishment in the second half of 2009, a historic move representing the Chinese mainland's first pilot zone aimed at enhancing cross-Straits communication, Pingtan has been enjoying various preferential policies from the central government and attracting a number of enterprises, foreign and domestic, thanks to its strong investment environment.

Statistics from industrial and commercial authorities show that the annual numbers of newly introduced enterprises have totaled 117, 339, 682 and 1,024, respectively, over the last four years. Before that, only 70 to 80 companies opened operations in Pingtan every year.

Along with the increase, the scale of investment is also expanding. The registered capital of the 3,000-plus enterprises has exceeded 27 billion yuan ($4.35 billion). Sixty-two enterprises boast a registered capital of more than 100 million yuan. As many as 14 enterprises that have settled in Pingtan in 2013 reported a registered capital of at least 10 million yuan.

The introduction of foreign-invested enterprises has made great strides, too. Altogether 145 foreign-invested enterprises, 98 of which are from Taiwan, have entered the pilot zone with a registered capital of more than $600 million.

The rapid growth of enterprises can be attributed to various preferential polices from central and provincial governments, said a member from the industrial and commercial department in the county.

Since last year, Pingtan has accelerated construction of business registration offices to provide faster, more efficient registration service for all enterprises in the pilot area.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai