More than 30 percent of small and medium-sized companies in China have resumed work, as the government's favorable policies have gradually taken effect in encouraging them to restart production, the nation's top industry regulator said on Thursday.

Zhang Kejian, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said China had 18.07 million registered small and medium-sized companies by the end of 2018, which are the largest in number and most dynamic entrepreneurial group and also an important foundation for China's real economy.

"Tracking data shows that so far, more than 30 percent of them have restarted work," Zhang said.