As of October 31, 2022, a total of 223 listed companies on STAR Market had been included in the national SRDI "little giants" enterprise list, accounting for 22% of the total number of listed SRDI "little giants" enterprises and 61% of the total number of listed SRDI "little giants" enterprises under the registration system. Twenty-three companies on STAR Market were rated as "single-item champion" demonstration enterprises in the manufacturing industry, and 24 companies' main products were rated as "single-item champion" products of the same kind. Together, these three types of enterprises (hereinafter referred to as SRDI "little giants" enterprises) accounted for nearly 50% of the total number of listed companies on STAR Market.

According to the reporter's statistics, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market are mainly concentrated in the manufacturing industry. More than 80% of them are engaged in high-end manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing in the fields of semiconductor, biomedicine, high-end equipment, new energy, new materials, energy conservation and environmental protection, which have cut a figure and demonstrated good development potential. As of October 31, 2022, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market achieved a total market value of up to 2.8 trillion yuan, with an average of 10 billion yuan. Thirty-seven companies had a market value of over 20 billion yuan.

High growth

According to Wind's statistics, in the first three quarters of 2022, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market achieved a total operating revenue of 426.359 billion yuan, up by 46% year on year. Nearly 80% of the companies saw a year-on-year increase in their operating revenue, with 45 growing by more than 50%, and 57 reporting operating revenue of more than 1 billion yuan; they posted a total of net profit attributable to the parent company of 47.183 billion yuan, up by 26% year on year. Nearly 90% of the companies were profitable. Nearly 50% of the companies' net profit attributable to the parent company increased year on year, with 66 growing by more than 50%, and 103 reported a net profit attributable to the parent company of more than 100 million yuan.

SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market had distinctive characteristics. Dedicated to core basic components, advanced basic processes and key basic materials for manufacturing, they focused on six strategic emerging industries, namely, new-generation information technology, high-end equipment, biomedicine, new materials, energy conservation and environmental protection, and new energy. Among them, enterprises in new-generation information technology, high-end equipment and biomedicine industries were relatively concentrated, with 83, 54 and 38 respectively. These enterprises focused on special products and services, stepped up efforts in making breakthroughs in bottleneck fields, and effectively connected the "breakpoints" and unclogged the "blockages" of the industrial chain.

Breakthroughs in key technologies rely heavily on R&D investment. In Q3 of 2022, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market invested a total of 26.3 billion yuan in R&D, up by 38% year on year, and the R&D investment accounted for 14% of operating revenue in average. Forty-seven companies, such as Sino Medical Sciences Technology Inc., had an R&D intensity of over 20%. In terms of R&D personnel, they made up nearly 30% of the companies' workforce on average. Among them, Shanghai Awinic Technology Co., Ltd had 663 R&D personnel, accounting for more than 60% of its total employees.

The foundation of "key and core technology"

Thanks to continued high investment in R&D and stable teams of high-level scientific research, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market have constantly improved their scientific and technological innovation capabilities and the innovative achievements continued to emerge since their listing. By the end of the first half of the year, each company had an average of 70 invention patents. Forty companies, such as Hwatsing Technology Co., Ltd., had more than 100 invention patents.

According to PatSnap's data, in terms of technology growth, of the 217 SRDI "little giants" enterprises listed on STAR Market included in its study, each disclosed an average of about 34 patent applications in 2020, which rose to about 40 in 2021, an increase of 17.64%. As mentioned in the 14th Five-Year Plan for Promoting SME Development formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the total number of SMEs' patent applications is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 10%. The average annual patent growth of "little giants" enterprises listed on STAR Market was nearly double that.

In terms of technology intensity, based on the number of invention patents awarded per 1,000 workers, the technology intensity of SRDI "little giants" enterprises listed on STAR Market was about 106 pieces/1,000 workers. Compared with the technology intensity of about 63 pieces/1,000 workers for all SRDI "little giants" enterprises, the technology intensity of "little giants" enterprises listed on STAR Market was significantly higher.

In terms of the distribution of strategic emerging industries, according to PatSnap's statistics, the 217 "little giants" enterprises were mainly distributed in the industries of new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and biology, with 83, 39, 35 and 33 respectively. Of these four industries, in terms of the total number of patent applications, new-generation information technology ranked first, followed by high-end equipment manufacturing, biology and new materials, with more than 16,000, 10,000, 5,600 and 4,800 respectively. In terms of the average number of patent applications by enterprises, "little giants" in the high-end equipment manufacturing industry outperformed the others, followed by those in new-generation information technology, biology and new materials, with about 277, 193, 171 and 140 respectively.

In terms of regional distribution, the 217 "little giants" enterprises were mainly located in Jiangsu Province, Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Beijing, with 42, 33, 33 and 20 respectively. Among these four provinces, and province-level municipalities, in terms of the total number of patent applications, Jiangsu Province ranked first, followed by Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Beijing, with more than 8,000, 7,600, 5,800 and 3,400 respectively. In terms of the average number of patent applications by enterprises, "little giants" in Guangdong Province outperformed the others, followed by Jiangsu Province, Shanghai and Beijing, with 231, 192, 178 and 173 respectively.

Favored by institutions

With their distinctive characteristics of "key and core technology" and high growth, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market are increasingly favored by institutional investors in the capital market.

By the end of Q3 of 2022, SRDI "little giants" enterprises on STAR Market had received over 40,000 institutional researches, with an average of about 150 per company. Institutions held an average of 25% of tradable shares, with institutional shareholding greater than 10% in 198 companies and greater than 50% in 26 companies.

In addition, the STAR Market has introduced a number of long-term funds such as social security fund, insurance companies and QFIIs. Thirty-seven companies, such as Qingdao Yunlu Advanced Materials Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Microport Endovascular Medtech (Group) Co., Ltd., were invested by social security fund. Twenty-seven companies, such as XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang He Chuan Technology Corporation Limited, were invested by QFIIs. Of these, MGI Tech Co., Ltd., Shanghai Friendess Electronic Technology Corporation Limited, etc. were invested by both social security fund and QFIIs.