SMEs urged to pursue 'specialized, distinctive' growth

The 12th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Technology Conference and Fair, a vital international trade show and exchange event under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, recently concluded at the Qingdao International Convention Center in Qingdao city, Shandong province, with a call for SMEs to pursue "specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative" development paths and inject strong impetus to the region's high-quality growth.

Themed as "Digital Innovation Drives Sustainable Development, Win-Win Cooperation Aspires Greater Prosperity" and co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Shandong provincial government, the event was aimed at helping SMEs showcase their latest technologies and achievements, facilitate exchanges and investment, and match resources.

A total of 1,621 companies participated in the APEC trade show, a year-on-year increase of 15.7 percent. Of them, 319 were international exhibitors, a threefold surge from the previous year, and 384 were national "hidden champions", as well as 574 provincial-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative SMEs. The number of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative companies soared by 58 percent compared to 2022, and they exhibited 1,037 new technologies and products.

Tian Fenglin, a member of the executive committee at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said that innovation, exchange and cooperation among SMEs within the APEC framework continues to grow, effectively promoting the economic development of APEC member economies.

Teten Masduki, minister of cooperatives and SMEs of Indonesia, said the event significantly supports the development of SMEs in such aspects as strengthening business competitiveness, enhancing internationalization and improving partnership in international trade.

"It is essential to build an international cooperation mechanism to bolster supply chain synergies between economies. I hope through this occasion, there is a collaboration between Indonesia and China in empowering SMEs through technology to foster economic growth and development," he said.

Ana Maria Choquehuanca De Villanueva, Peru's minister of production, stated: "The great technological advances and policies of China and APEC economies drive us to seek synergies to building platforms for SMEs to take advantage of new technologies, trade with increasingly innovative products and actively participate in global value chains."

Since 1996, the APEC trade show has been held in Qingdao four times. "As one of the first cities to establish a 'specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative' platform, Qingdao has expanded the path for serving SMEs in multi-level capital markets," said Jia Hongwei, deputy director of the SME bureau at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. "This event will undoubtedly play a positive role in promoting the financial innovation and international development of Qingdao and SMEs nationwide."

During the event, Qingdao SMEs showcased the latest achievements and development potential in emerging industries such as new energy, high-end equipment, semiconductor manufacturing, biomedicine and artificial intelligence.

Qingdao Hongsheng Huaming New Materials Technology, a technology-oriented enterprise specializing in the production of food-grade paper packaging and container products, achieved fruitful results at the trade show. "We brought the latest environmentally friendly baking paper, and through the exhibition we gained many new customers," said Song Li, the company's marketing manager.

Other participants included Qingdao Sencott Intelligent Instrument, which displayed a digital aquaculture management system, intelligent robotic systems, underwater binocular cameras and underwater monitoring systems that provide support for unmanned operations in deep-sea intelligent net cages; and ZTD Technology Industry (Qingdao), which pioneered the development of finger joint rotation motor equipment in the field of humanoid robots.

In Qingdao, more than 700,000 SMEs contribute about 80 percent of imports and exports and new job creation, making them the main force in economic and social development. To date, Qingdao has nurtured a total of 1,651 innovative SMEs, 6,738 specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative SMEs, 190 national "hidden champions", 486 fledgling enterprises and 344 gazelle enterprises in Shandong.