Private enterprises have kept reinforcing their principal role in sci-tech innovation and emerged as an important force in the development of new productive forces in China, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) said in a report on Tuesday.
The ACFIC released its annual report on the social responsibility of Chinese private enterprises at the fourth session of its 13th executive committee held in Changsha of central China's Hunan Province, commending private enterprises for having achieved remarkable results in fulfilling their duties on sci-tech innovation, employment, rural revitalization, green transformation, and public welfare.
The private enterprises have proactively aligned their social responsibilities with national strategies and taken practical actions to inject new impetus into Chinese modernization, the report said.
The report was based on a survey involving more than 30,000 enterprises, including 1,616 listed ones and 371 of the country's top 500 private enterprises.
As of the end of 2024, private enterprises accounted for more than 90 percent of China's high-tech enterprises, and their proportion in "little giant" enterprises and the Science and Technology Innovation Board listings both exceeded 80 percent, according to the report.
"Little giant" firms refer to the novel elites of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and boast cutting-edge technologies.
For the first time, private enterprises took the largest share in China's import and export of high-tech products at 48.5 percent in 2024, the report said.
The top 1,000 private enterprises spent a total of 1.43 trillion yuan (about 200 billion U.S. dollars) in terms of research and development investment, and 112 of them were among the world's top 1,000 research and development investors, the report said, adding that 71.6 percent of the enterprises increased their research and development investment last year.
"Under a research and development strategy of technology-driven and green development, we have established a full-chain research and development system covering basic research, breakthroughs in core technologies, and industrial application, and formed a research and development team of more than 300 people led by industry experts. In the past three years, our research and development input has increased by over 40 percent year on year. As a result, we have obtained more than 400 patents, laying a solid foundation for technological breakthroughs," said Kuang Hao, director of product development of the Hunan Xingbang Intelligent Equipment Company.
Private enterprises have yielded fruitful innovation results, occupying seven of the top 10 spots in terms of domestic invention patent authorizations and contributing over 70 percent of technological innovations, according to the report.
Survey results showed that 4,135 enterprises have participated in national projects seeking breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, such as high-end equipment manufacturing, next-generation information technology, aviation and aerospace, new materials, biomedicine, new energy and energy storage, and marine science and technology, the report said.
Private enterprises reinforce principal role in innovation drive: report
Private enterprises reinforce principal role in innovation drive: report
