'Startup' comes from 'start[ing] up a business' - so 'startups are being created' doesn't strictly speaking make sense, or at least calling them 'startups' isn't adding anything not provided by 'created'.
You're right that the word is increasingly used to refer to SMEs that have been around years, are stable, etc. - just because it carries weight as a buzzword. But in the context of newly created businesses, that's exactly in-line with proper/original meaning.
(A better title might have been '12,000 new startups in China every day', or equally '12,000 businesses created in China every day'.)
You have it backwards. The term "startup" today commonly refers to what used to be called a "high-growth startup". The fact that new businesses such as SMEs that are not intended as high-growth ventures are using the term is a reversion to the original meaning.
It is no bad thing to have to start using the "high-growth" qualifier again.
You're right that the word is increasingly used to refer to SMEs that have been around years, are stable, etc. - just because it carries weight as a buzzword. But in the context of newly created businesses, that's exactly in-line with proper/original meaning.
(A better title might have been '12,000 new startups in China every day', or equally '12,000 businesses created in China every day'.)