China unveiled its fifth batch of “little giant” enterprises on July 26, with 217 hailing from Hubei Province, accounting for 5.92 percent of the country’s total. The amount ranked third in the country and first in central China.

So far, there have been 680 national-level “little giant” enterprises in the province, rising to the first in central China and seventh in the country on the rankings.

“Little giant” enterprises refer to leading small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs that specialize in niche sectors, commanding a high market share and boasting strong innovative capacity and core technologies.

Among the 217 enterprises, 103 are based in Wuhan, 19 in Yichang, 18 in Jingmen, 15 in Xiangyang, 12 in Huanggang, 11 in Jingzhou, 9 in Xiaogan, 8 in Xianning, 6 in Huangshi, 4 in Shiyan and Ezhou each, 3 in Xiantao, 2 in Suizhou, and 1 in Enshi, Tianmen and Qiangjiang, respectively.

In 2022, the sales revenue, tax and total assets of these enterprises expanded 29.5 percent, 65.86 percent and 16.96 percent year on year to reach 141.256 billion yuan, 6.755 billion yuan and 173.634 billion yuan, respectively. They invested 8.301 billion yuan in research and development, accounting for 5.88 percent of their sales revenue. With 4,638 valid invention patents, they participated in the setting of 981 national or occupational standards and boasted an average market share of over 40 percent for the segmented products in the country.

The 217 enterprises are mainly specialized in new-generation information technology, chemical raw materials and new materials, high-grade CNC machines and robots, rail transit equipment and other key areas. (en.hubei.gov.cn by Ruan Xinqi)