CHONGQING -- China has incubated more than 17,600 national-level "little giant" enterprises to date, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday.

"Little giant" firms refer to the novel elites of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and boast cutting-edge technologies.

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Although they represent just 3.5 percent of all industrial SMEs above the designated size nationwide, these firms contribute 9.6 percent of the sector's total operating revenue and 13.7 percent of its total profits, according to data released at a conference on SME development held in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Wednesday.

The high-quality development of China's SMEs has continued to make steady progress, with growing strength and improving performance, said Li Lecheng, minister of industry and information technology, at the conference.

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So far, the country has nurtured more than 600,000 scientific and innovative SMEs, Li said, adding that in the future, China will continue to advance new industrialization and modernization by strengthening the role of enterprises as the main drivers of innovation, enhancing the capacity of high-quality firms to support industrial chains, and fostering a sound business environment for enterprise development.

The development of SMEs that use specialized, sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products has been highlighted as a key national strategy. It was included in the Communist Party of China Central Committee's recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for China's economic and social development.