Shandong recently appraised and elected its top 200 leading technology enterprises as part of its efforts to promote innovation-driven development.

According to local authorities, this is the first time for Shandong to release such a list, which gives full play to the demonstration and leading role of high-tech enterprises, as well as fosters an enabling environment for innovation-driven development.

Official statistics show that the 200 companies spent 27.33 billion yuan ($4.27 billion) on science and technology activities, accounting for 4.6 percent of their main business income, with their average expenditure on science and technology events reaching 140 million yuan.

The total number of science and technology personnel in the companies was about 60,000, accounting for 23.5 percent of their total number of employees, 2 percentage points higher than the average number of high-tech enterprises in the province.

In 2020, the average number of effective invention patents owned by the 200 leading technology enterprises was 56.8, 12.1 times that of the average number of effective invention patents owned by high-tech enterprises in the province.