An aerial photo of Xiamen Software Park. [Photo/WeChat account: touzixiamen]

Sixty-five companies from Xiamen in Fujian province lead the province for number of companies included in the fourth batch of State-level "little giant" companies, which was recently released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

A "little giant" company refers to a leading small or medium enterprise that specializes in niche sectors.

Most of the 65 listed Xiamen "little giant" companies specialize in six key sectors, including core basic components, core basic electronic parts, key software, advanced basic technology, key basic materials, and industrial technology foundation. These companies play a vital gap-filling role in the key areas along the industrial chain.

In terms of industrial distribution, 15 companies cover the computers, communications and electronic equipment manufacturing sector, 10 companies cover the special equipment manufacturing sector, seven companies cover the software and information technology service sector, and others cover sectors like pharmaceutical manufacturing, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing, and non-metallic mineral products manufacturing.

These 65 companies have a total of 1,242 first-class intellectual property rights. In 2021, these companies achieved a total of 18.06 billion yuan ($2.67 billion) in revenue, up 39.25 percent year-on-year, and invested 1.53 billion yuan in research and development, an increase of 36.79 percent.

To date, Xiamen is home to 144 State-level "little giant" companies, accounting for 50 percent of Fujian province's total.