Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a circular to organize the 2026 certification and review process for "Specialized, Refined, Special, and New" (SRSN) "Little Giant" enterprises. Provincial-level SRSN small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are eligible to apply for the eighth batch of SRSN "Little Giant" certification; additionally, enterprises certified in the fifth batch (2023) and those from the second batch that successfully passed their previous review may submit applications for their scheduled re-evaluation. No fees of any kind are charged for any of these applications. To alleviate the application burden on enterprises, applicants are no longer required to submit supporting documentation such as certificates or statements regarding market share in specific market segments issued by third-party agencies, nor are they required to provide domestic invention patent certificates (though such certificates remain mandatory for cases involving other Class I intellectual property rights, such as integrated circuit layout designs). Enterprises need only truthfully declare their market share and report the number of their invention patents. The MIIT will intensify data-sharing efforts in coordination with the National Intellectual Property Administration and other relevant departments; consequently, patent-related data will be verified based on the data provided by the National Intellectual Property Administration.
The notice states that applications and reviews for Specialized, Refined, Special, and New "Little Giant" enterprises shall be conducted through a combination of online submission and offline delivery. Online submissions are to be completed via the Ministry's Tiered Cultivation Platform for High-Quality Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) between April 25 and May 25, 2026. Offline submissions shall adhere to the specific requirements of the competent SME authorities in the respective enterprises' jurisdictions; furthermore, the data submitted offline must be consistent with the data submitted online.
