High-tech enterprises serve as the main force integrating scientific and industrial innovation. Reporters recently learned from the Anhui Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology that Hefei is now home to 10,786 valid high-tech enterprises. The figure has surged 6.9 times over the past decade with an average annual growth rate of 29.6%, 7 percentage points higher than the provincial average. Driven by robust growth momentum, these enterprises have become a powerhouse fueling high-quality industrial development in Hefei and the whole province.

Statistics show Hefei had merely 1,357 high-tech enterprises back in 2016. From 2016 to 2025, the city’s share of provincial high-tech enterprises rose year by year from 35.13% to over 45%, marking ten consecutive years of steady growth. The agglomeration effect of industrial leaders keeps expanding, and sci-tech industries have seen all-round improvements in their appeal, radiating influence and competitiveness.

Behind the steady expansion in quantity lies remarkable improvement in quality. In 2025, the average revenue of each high-tech enterprise in Hefei hit 380 million yuan, with revenue from high-tech products accounting for 83.1% of total revenue — 3.9 percentage points above the provincial average. Their R&D investment intensity stood at 4.8%, 0.8 percentage points higher than the city’s overall R&D input intensity. Substantial investment in core research and development has laid a solid foundation for technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading.

Since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Hefei’s high-tech enterprises have obtained over 10,000 authorized invention patents, with each enterprise holding an average of 1.4 invention patents and 5.6 software copyrights. The sector employs more than 760,000 sci-tech professionals, making up 32% of its total workforce, 5.2 percentage points higher than the provincial average. High-tech enterprises have become a backbone of the capital market: 69 such enterprises in the city are listed, accounting for 72.6% of all local listed firms, firmly standing at the forefront of industrial transformation.

Relevant officials from the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology stated that Hefei has built a tiered development system covering micro, small, medium and large high-tech enterprises. Over the past decade, the number of micro and small high-tech enterprises jumped from 835 to 6,217, accounting for a slightly higher 62.6% of all high-tech firms, while medium-sized ones grew from 349 to 2,979, taking up over 30% of the total.

In 2025, Hefei boasted 735 large-scale high-tech enterprises, each generating an average revenue of 5.8 billion yuan. Leading firms including BOE Technology Group and ChangXin Memory Technologies focus on core hard technologies and act as chain leaders of their respective industrial chains.

Hefei keeps upgrading its sci-tech enterprise incubation platforms. The city runs 292 municipal-level and higher incubation carriers covering a total area of nearly 1.5 million square meters. More than 1,500 high-tech enterprises have been incubated here in two years, fostering a sound ecosystem for the growth of startup sci-tech companies.

Source: Anhui Daily