Chongqing municipality released the 2023 list of specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that includes 1,366 SMEs, making the city's total reach 3,850. Enterprises newly included this year mainly engage in consumer goods, equipment, and other industry sectors, with average annual revenue reaching 100 million yuan ($13.9 million).

Specialized and sophisticated SMEs refer to enterprises specializing in niche markets with solid innovative capacity and core technologies; they produce novel and unique products that command a high market share. Such enterprises are perceived as the cradle of new industries, business forms, and models that promote China's manufacturing industry toward higher-end, more intelligent, and greener development.

"SMEs on the 2023 list are highly specialized with strong innovation capability and significant improvements on industrial chains," according to an official from Chongqing Economic and Information Technology Commission. Of the listed enterprises, 382 spent more than 5 billion yuan on R&D, 1,083 enterprises shored up weak spots and filled the gap in critical areas along industry chains.

For instance, Chongqing Boenfuk Medical Equipment Co engages in high-tech medical equipment and integrates R&D, production, and sales. Leveraging the research and talent resources of St. Cloud State University, Chongqing University, and other prominent domestic universities, the enterprise has formed a strong R&D team. It filled the technology gap in brain edema and hematoma detection with its primary product, non-invasive brain edema dynamic monitor and disposable brain detection electrode.

Boenfuk is prominently located in the bustling Liangjiang New Area, which has witnessed an impressive surge in the number of enterprises added to its roster, representing a substantial 13.4 percent of the entire city's enterprise corpus. These enterprises predominantly operate in the cutting-edge sectors of automotive, electronics, software and information services, biomedicine, aerospace, and other such areas of technological and scientific advancement.

SF UAS is among the seven specialized and sophisticated SMEs in the aerospace industry in Liangjiang New Area. [Photo provided by SF UAS]

To support the high-quality development of specialized and sophisticated SMEs, Liangjiang New Area rolled out an entire action plan and has been making increasing efforts to foster such enterprises, especially in automobiles, electronic information, high-end equipment, life and health, new materials, digital economy, modern services, and other vital sectors.

To date, Liangjiang has seen 444 municipal-level specialized and sophisticated SMEs, accounting for 11.5 percent of the total amount of Chongqing and ranking first among other districts in terms of new additions, cumulative volume, and percentage.

Currently, Liangjiang New Area has four industrial parks for specialized and sophisticated SMEs, focusing on new energy and intelligent network-connected vehicles, high-end equipment, digital economy, and biomedicine. These parks aim to provide a better environment for SMEs and promote the development of industrial innovation clusters by building high-capacity innovation platforms, gathering high-level talent teams, fostering an open innovation ecology, and creating a better development environment.