According to the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Shandong Province, this year, following the principle of "reserving a batch, cultivating a batch, and upgrading a batch," Shandong will identify and select a number of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that support the direction of new-type industrialization and the development of new quality productive forces along 43 key industrial chains. The goal is to cultivate over 1,000 specialized and innovative SMEs as well as about 150 specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises in 2025.
It was learned that, in 2024, Shandong implemented the "Year of Vitality Enhancement" initiative for SMEs to drive breakthroughs in the high-quality development of SMEs across the province. As of now, the number of SMEs across the province has exceeded 4.4 million; 26,592 innovative SMEs, 18,072 specialized and innovative SMEs, 1,163 specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises, 3,028 provincial gazelle enterprises and 28 unicorn enterprises, all of which are within their validity periods, have been cultivated, thus further strengthening the group of high-quality SMEs.