The crowded interchange on Guanggu Avenue in Optics Valley of China [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

The fourth group of new and specialized little giant enterprises of Central China's Hubei province in 2022 was revealed on April 16. Among the 1,041 new little giant companies, 142 are located in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC).

OVC is currently home to 326 little giant firms at or above the provincial level, more than any other place in Hubei and accounting for nearly half of such firms in Wuhan. By April, the valley had cultivated 25 State-level little giant firms, making up 51 percent of Wuhan's total.

About 80 percent of little giants based in OVC are privately owned and involved in computers, communication, equipment manufacturing, software and IT services, medicine, medical equipment manufacturing, and energy conservation.

"If leading enterprises in the trillion-yuan-level ($156.5 billion) ‘optics, IC, displays, terminals and internet' industrial chain are the head of a giant dragon, then these little giant firms are its body and limbs. The industry will thrive only when the two kinds of enterprises work together," said Ye Xueping, president of the Economic Research Institute of Hubei Academy of Social Sciences.

Last year, OVC issued policies to advance the high-quality development of the manufacturing sector, allowing firms designated little giants at all levels to receive up to 1 million yuan in awards.

In addition, the valley's enterprise service bureau has joined forces with the taxation department and local banks to broaden financing channels and provide guidance on procedures for going public procedures and favorable tax policies to little giant firms.