The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance recently published a notice regarding the provision of fiscal support for "little giants", which are small- and medium-sized companies that own core technologies and strong innovation capabilities.

Thirty out of the 727 companies on the national list are based in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. The city has the eighth highest number of companies among all Chinese cities.

To date, Ningbo is home to a total of 55 of such companies that have earned national recognition.

The 30 new entries from Ningbo spent on average 5.25 percent of their business revenue on research and development activities in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, their average annual growth rate for business profits reached 46.5 percent. They currently own 1,221 valid patents and 60 independent brands.