Asia-Pacific region's innovations boosted by mutually beneficial working partnerships

SMEs are an integral part of the APEC and play an important role in increasing job opportunities and boosting innovation and social stability.

They have become the most dynamic group in China's business circle. China's SMEs have contributed more than 50 percent of tax nationwide, and created 60 percent of the country's GDP, 70 percent of patents for inventions, as well as 80 percent of employment opportunities.

At present, it's an important task and a challenge for APEC economic entities to boost and support renovation and sustainable development of the SEMs, as the world's technology and industry revolution accelerates, resources begin to hold back economy, and market competition grows increasingly competitive.

No economic entity can enjoy good development alone under the background of globalization. It's not a case of zero-sum game but mutually-beneficial cooperation among economic entities. The SME Ministerial Meeting will focus on innovation and sustainable development this time and offer opportunities for all economic entities to share experience and join hands to come up with a new blueprint for innovative development of the SEMs.

The Chinese government has paid great attention to a healthy and sustainable development of SMEs and insists on giving priority to SME innovative development and creating a good environment for SMEs to conduct innovations.

The government will improve supportive financial and tax policies for SMEs to make innovation. It will allow SMEs to offset research and development costs against tax, and develop small and medium-sized financial institutes which are encouraged to offer credit, loan and innovative financial products to SMEs.

Public services will be upgraded to support SME innovation. The government will speed up construction of public service system to protect SME intellectual property and strengthen personnel training.

The Chinese government will speed up construction of technical innovation system that involves enterprises, markets and academic institutes for SMEs and step up technical support to them to reduce R&D costs and risks.

The government will also give SMEs support in applying informatization to R&D, design, production and company management. It will help SMEs reform technology, accelerate product upgrading, and enjoy specialized development.

SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region have lots of opportunities learning from and helping each other. The joint efforts of APEC economic entities have led to good development of fund, information and personnel turnover and clear-cut industrial divisions in the region. The brewing new technical revolution will inevitably boost benign interaction among SMEs in the region.

Implementing an innovation-powered development strategy will unleash unprecedented innovation demand and market space, especially in China, which is home to a 1.3-billion population. I have faith in cooperation in deepening innovative development of SMEs under the APEC framework.

We hope that all economic entities can be pragmatic and take effective measures to promote Asia-Pacific cooperation through SME innovation, and upgrade SME value and supply chains.

We hope that all parties can support and encourage SME innovation activities in environmental protection, energy conservation and low-carbon economy, strengthen cooperation in informatization, intellectual property protection, talent cultivation and public service, and break barriers in exchanges of talents, technology, fund and products to improve regional economic integration and realize mutually-beneficial cooperation among SMEs.

We should help SMEs make full use of innovation achievements of all economic entities, improve the existing cooperation mechanisms, such as the APEC SME service union and innovation center, speed up construction of cooperation network to share scientific innovation information and promote cross-regional intermediary service development.

China is willing to learn from other parties and work with them to strengthen policy dialogue on SMEs and share their successful experience. The country will also grasp opportunities and face up to challenge to get new development momentum through reform and innovation and continue to help the Asia-Pacific region serve as an engine of the world's economic growth.

The author is chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China.