Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board saw steady growth in research and development (R&D) spending last year, data from the board has shown.
The R&D input of firms listed on the board, commonly known as the STAR market, reached 85.24 billion yuan (about 12.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 29 percent year on year.
The expansion in spending yielded fruitful results, with over 7,800 inventions patented by these firms last year.
Among all sectors, companies in the integrated circuit and biomedical sectors recorded higher R&D intensity than others.
So far, 29 percent of the STAR market firms have been officially recognized as "little giants," which refer to the novel elites of China's small and medium-sized enterprises that engage in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and boast cutting-edge technologies.
The board's data also showed that companies listed on it saw operating revenue up 45.6 percent year on year and net profits up 62.42 percent in the first quarter.
