SMEs thrive as new momentum to economic growth in Guangzhou

The second phase of its industrial park, taking up an area of 160,000 square meters in GDD, started construction in March.

It is expected to become Asia's largest manufacturing base for bio-laboratory consumable products, he added.

Located in eastern Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, GDD ranked first in terms of technological innovation. This was among all 219 State-level economic and technological development districts in China for 2018, according to an evaluation by the Ministry of Commerce.

The official figures indicate that the district has more than 20,000 innovative companies, of which at least 2,000 were credited as high-tech companies.

More than 80 percent of these high-tech companies are private companies and SMEs, and more than 80 percent of the invention patents, new technological achievements and new products in GDD are coming from private companies and SMEs, which have already been the major force for the district's development.

GDD's strength in innovation should be attributed to its strategy of emphasizing the development of private companies and SMEs, which the local government believes are flexible, dynamic capable of propping up the local economy. "The private companies and SMEs have served as new momentum to enhance the economic development quality of the district," said Zhao Birong, deputy director of the industry and information technology bureau of Huangpu district.

In 2018, 93.4 percent of the 903 industrial companies in Huangpu with an annual industrial output of more than 20 million yuan each were private companies and SMEs, according to government statistics. They contributed 47 percent to the district's total industrial output, up from 41.1 percent in 2017 and 37.2 percent in 2016.

They are mainly scattered in the strategic emerging industries in the district. They include automobile, electronic, energy, chemistry, electronic machinery, new-generation information technology, smart equipment, biomedicine and new materials. To energize private companies and SMEs, the district government issued 18 incentive measures in November 2018 to help with fund shortages, development transition and market exploration.

As one of the measures, the local government will coordinate an industry investment fund of 30 billion yuan. It will invite the participation of State-owned enterprises and support the growth of advanced manufacturing, modern service and strategic emerging industries.

The venture capital institutions that invest in private and SMEs in the seed stage and initial stage can get ample rewards, according to the new policy.

The local government will also set up a development fund with 10 billion yuan for private companies to solve their stock pledge and loan problems.