On January 12, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Henan announced that in 2025, the province added 54 "little giant" enterprises and 465 provincial-level small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recognized for their specialization, innovation, and high-end development. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), a total of 452 "little giant" enterprises and 5,340 SMEs were nurtured and remain qualified within their validity period.
Specialized, high-end, and innovation-driven enterprises are primarily concentrated in the manufacturing sector, focusing on niche markets and demonstrating strong innovation capabilities. Henan is home to over 5,000 such enterprises, which are mainly distributed across key industrial chains, including advanced engineering machinery, new chemical materials, biomedicine, advanced computing, and new energy vehicles. Nearly 80 percent of these enterprises derive over 95 percent of their revenue from their core businesses. Over the past three years, their R&D expenditures have averaged more than 10 percent of operating revenue. Almost 90 percent of these enterprises provide direct supporting products or services to well-known large companies both domestically and internationally, with some playing a critical supporting role within their respective industries. (Chinese source: Henan Daily Reporter: Chen Hui Translator: Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Ding Lan and Zhao Hanqing)
