A number of tech-intensive Chinese start-ups have sprung up, acting as the new engines driving economic growth. These innovation-driven small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which own core technologies in a niche market and show great market potential, are known as “little giants”. According to a recent official survey, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has placed more than 10,000 enterprises in China in the “little giant” category. As of late July, over 3,600 newly certified little giants, of which 86% are privately owned, had obtained about 175,000 patents, according to a Beijing industry institute. The research and development (R&D) performed by these SMEs has provided them with strong earning power. Of the 611 listed little giants that have released their half-year financial reports, more than 90% showed profits, according to Choice, a Chinese financial data service firm. Meanwhile, 428 of them had invested more in R&D, with 17 increasing their investment by over 100%.
One such company is PhaBuilder, founded based on years of laboratory work, usually originating with university research groups. It produces a powder that can be used to make biodegradable plastic film. The company discovered powerful bacteria around a dried-out lake in Xinjiang in 2003. After two decades of research, the genetically engineered species finally rolled off the line. Last year, PhaBuilder launched a synthetic biology facility in the Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park. PhaBuilder’s production process dispenses with the strict sterile and high-pressure requirements of traditional chemical engineering. As such, it has reduced water and energy consumption by at least 50%, making the production process more cost-effective and eco-friendly. A chemical produced in the process has been put into space aboard Tianzhou-1, China’s first cargo spacecraft, for studies on a potential medicine for osteoporosis. In March, a synthetic biology innovation alliance was set up by 16 enterprises and 16 research teams from eight institutions, including Tsinghua, to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.
Another little giant is Acoinfo, which specializes in industrial real-time operating systems. The research staff began product design in 2006. This year, their efforts paid off. Acoinfo’s SylixOS system has been installed in an ultra-high-voltage electricity transmission project that conveys renewable power from northwestern China to the country’s power-thirsty eastern region. “As the demand for home-grown technology grows in multiple sectors, we see greater market potential in the future,” said Han Hui, Chairman of Beijing-based Acoinfo. In the first half year, investment in China’s service industry for scientific and technological achievements grew by 46.3%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Workers at a plant in Guangxi are producing a coating that makes glass electrically conductive. Indium tin oxide (ITO) coating is a core technology in smartphone display screens. Guangxi is rich in indium tin, but for a long time, local manufacturers had to import the coating, which was five to eight times more expensive than the raw material, said Huang Shicheng, General Manager of Guangxi Crystal Union Photo-electric Materials. Thanks to various technological breakthroughs, the little giant is mass-producing ITO. “From 2016 to 2022, the sales volume of the company’s products increased seven-fold,” said Huang, as reported by the China Daily.
