China's SME fair sparks int'l exchanges

The 18th China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, which will be held in Guangzhou, Guangdong province from June 26 to June 30, is expected to further play a platform role in promoting international exchanges among small and medium-sized enterprises, officials said on Thursday.

The fair - which will be held offline for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic - and the expo will feature larger domestic and international exhibition sections. The exhibition area will reach 80,000 square meters, which is 50 percent larger than last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Political leaders from Vietnam, Iran, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and heads of international organizations, as well as officials from some 30 foreign embassies and consulates in China, have confirmed their attendance online or offline.

"This year's expo will further play a platform role in promoting international exchanges among small and medium-sized enterprises, and the participation enthusiasm of domestic and foreign small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector has been high," said Xu Xiaolan, vice-minister of industry and information technology.

"Supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises has become the consensus of various countries, and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises requires a market-oriented, legal and international business environment," Xu said.

In the past few years, small and medium-sized enterprises have achieved quantitative and qualitative development in China, making an important contribution to the growth of the economy and society.

By the end of 2022, China had a total of 52 million small and medium-sized enterprises, an increase of 51 percent compared with 2018. Small and medium-sized enterprises contributed more than half of the foreign trade growth, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Meanwhile, China has fostered nearly 9,000 "little giant" companies that specialized in niche sectors. They make up for a high market share and have strong innovative capacity and core technologies.

For those companies, their average investment value in research and development account for 8.9 percent of the total investment, and the number of R&D personnel make up for 28 percent of the total staff members, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn