Beijing, July 23, 2024, The Europe Today: China is set to bolster its efforts to nurture and support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate technological advancements and drive new product development. The latest initiatives focus on SMEs that utilize specialized and sophisticated technologies to create novel and unique products.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced an accelerated push for SMEs to migrate to the cloud, adopt digital tools, and leverage intelligent technologies. This initiative aims to foster distinctive industrial clusters of SMEs and establish a high-quality, efficient service system to support them.
A special campaign will be launched to empower SMEs through digital transformation, with a goal of achieving full digitalization of “little giant” enterprises by 2027. These “little giant” enterprises are the elite among China’s SMEs, engaged in manufacturing, specializing in niche markets, and boasting cutting-edge technologies.
The latest support for innovative SMEs aligns with a recently unveiled key policy document that emphasizes the importance of reinforcing the primary role of enterprises in innovation. By the end of June this year, China had cultivated over 140,000 such SMEs, including 12,000 “little giant” enterprises.
To encourage scientific and technological SMEs to increase their research and development (R&D) spending, China will raise the rate of additional tax deductions for their R&D expenses, according to the policy document. Efforts will also be made to guide higher education institutions and research institutes to authorize the use of their proprietary scientific and technological advances by micro, small, and medium enterprises on a “use first, pay later” basis.
China has established more than 1,780 public service institutions for SMEs at national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, with an 84 percent coverage rate at the municipal level and above, according to the latest MIIT data. This progress marks a step forward in the ministry’s plan to bolster support capabilities for SMEs across all levels by 2025. By 2035, the goal is to establish a sophisticated service system that aligns with the high-quality development of SMEs, focusing on top-tier institutions, strong platforms, rich resources, excellent services, and high satisfaction rates.
China’s SME promotion law stipulates that people’s governments at or above the county level should establish and improve public service institutions based on actual needs. These institutions provide public welfare services to SMEs, including intellectual property protection, investment and financing, technical support, and talent acquisition.
With these comprehensive measures, China aims to create a robust environment for SMEs to thrive, driving innovation and contributing significantly to the nation’s technological progress.
