Five enterprises in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province recently made the 2021 list of Zhejiang provincial "hidden champions" which was released by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology.

The enterprises are Zhejiang Huayuan Pigment Co Ltd, Zhejiang Mingquan Industrial Coating Co Ltd, Zhejiang Hengli CNC Technology Co Ltd, Demark (Changxing) Injection Molding System Co Ltd and Zhejiang J color Technologies Co Ltd.

Seventy-nine enterprises across Zhejiang made the list, bringing the total number of such companies in the province to 282.

The 79 newly listed enterprises are primarily from sectors including high-end equipment, key foundation components, auto parts, pump valves, new materials and pharmaceuticals.

The term "hidden champions" was coined in 1990 by Hermann Simon, a German business professor and management consultant. The concept refers to highly successful companies, often market leaders in a specific niche market and not known to the wider public.

They are usually small and medium-sized enterprises with products and services that cannot easily be surpassed and imitated.

Huzhou is currently home to 29 such provincial "hidden champions".