Guangzhou Development District and Huangpu District Advance “SMEs Can Achieve Big Things” Development System for Specialized and Innovative Enterprises

China’s First “SMEs Can Achieve Big Things” Innovation Demonstration Zone Established

On October 24, Guangzhou’s Huangpu District hosted a symposium for the seventh batch of national specialized and sophisticated “Little Giant” enterprises, providing a platform for communication and cooperation among these innovative firms. According to the recently released list of the seventh batch of national-level “Little Giant” enterprises for 2025, 47 companies from Guangzhou Development District and Huangpu District were selected, accounting for 37.3% of all selected enterprises in Guangzhou—a 21% increase year on year.

Guangzhou Development District is accelerating the construction of a targeted cultivation system for specialized and sophisticated SMEs under the “SMEs Can Achieve Big Things” initiative.

In terms of policy support, Huangpu District has strengthened tiered cultivation for high-quality SMEs. Newly recognized gazelle and unicorn enterprises are eligible for subsidies of up to 2 million yuan. The same level of support is available for newly recognized national-level “Little Giant” enterprises and national-level manufacturing single champion enterprises. The district also encourages enterprises to establish internal R&D institutions and improve innovation systems, providing up to 15 million yuan in funding to support key technology R&D and commercialization.

In terms of industrial space support, Huangpu District has launched the innovative “Land Use Express” mechanism, giving high-growth “Little Giant” enterprises priority access to land with no investment entry thresholds and simplified approval procedures. The district has strengthened its industrial space guarantees, building over 2.2 million square meters of specialized industrial parks and new-quality productivity spaces. It has facilitated the transfer of about 19,000 square meters and leasing of about 200,000 square meters of facilities in five pilot parks to specialized and sophisticated SMEs, and has allocated 150,000 square meters as “zero-rent” pilot industrial space.

At present, Guangzhou Development District and Huangpu District—recognized as China’s first “SMEs Can Achieve Big Things” Innovation Demonstration Zone—have cultivated 38 national key “Little Giant” enterprises, accounting for 51.35% of Guangzhou’s total, and 209 national-level specialized and sophisticated “Little Giant” enterprises, representing 43.6% of the city’s total. The districts currently rank sixth nationwide among all counties and districts in the number of cultivated enterprises.