Guangdong enterprises are playing a leading role in promoting innovation in the country, as evidenced by two reports from the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce published on Monday.

Enterprises in the southern province claimed 70 places in the 2021 Private Enterprises Research and Development Spending Top 500 list. The Shenzhen-headquartered telecom equipment and smartphone maker Huawei topped the list, while Shenzhen-based internet giant Tencent landed in third place and Foshan-based home appliance manufacturer Midea in ninth.

The top 500 Chinese enterprises poured a combined 742.9 billion ($115.5 billion) into R&D in the past year, with the biggest contributor spending 141.9 billion yuan, the report said.

The federation based its results on a study of 1,000 private enterprises with the highest R&D investments in the country.

Of the 1,000 enterprises, 92 were in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and these companies spent a total of 272.3 billion yuan on R&D.

According a separate report on the 2021 Top 500 Private Enterprise Patents for Inventions, meanwhile, 67 enterprises from Guangdong made the list, with four in the top 10. Huawei, Tencent, Midea and Zhuhai-based home appliance company Gree ranked first, second, third and fifth, respectively.

A total of 330,000 patents for inventions have been generated by the top 500 Chinese enterprises, the report showed.