Family-owned enterprises have mushroomed and become an important engine of China's economy, China Securities Journal reported.

Based on a survey conducted in 2010, family businesses, in which individuals or families own a controlling stake of more than 50 percent, made up 85.4 percent of China's private enterprises, said a report presented by the research organs of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce together with Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University and Hong Kong-based family firm Lee Kum Kee.

By the end of 2010, 36.9 percent of the 762 listed private companies in China's A-share stock market were family-owned firms.

The report, which was released in Beijing on Monday, features analyses of the development of China's family businesses.

China's business press carried the story above on Tuesday.