
2430 Group
387 posts

2430 Group
@2430group
A unique nonprofit dedicated to defending American innovation, industry, and IP. Radically nonpartisan. Unusually practical. Exceptionally skilled.


On Wednesday, I testified before the House Small Business Committee on China. Bottom Line: We obsess over China's tech giants. But we miss the small firms behind its manufacturing ecosystem. China built a program to make them world-beaters, and ours now face existential risk. Five points: 1️⃣ China's "Little Giants" (小巨人) program is one of its most consequential industrial policy programs — but few know much about it . A decade ago, Beijing made clear small businesses were critical to winning the fourth industrial revolution and important parts of the Made in China 2025 plan. So it built a system for them. It certified the most promising high-tech firms as "Little Giants," then handed them loans, subsidies, state equity investment, university research partnerships, fast-tracked patents, guaranteed contracts from state-owned enterprises, and streamlined stock listings — all in one coordinated package. Today, more than 17,000 Chinese firms hold that designation. 90% are in high-tech manufacturing. Together they raised $125 billion in private capital in just a few years. One of them is Unitree Robotics, now a global titan. 2️⃣ Our efforts to help small manufacturers through the Small Business Administration (SBA) simply do not compare to China's "Little Giants" program. China funds early-stage research through state institutes — we let our equivalent programs, SBIR and STTR, lapse. China packages loans, equity, and R&D into a single coordinated certification — we run countless uncoordinated initiatives with no common thread. China's little giants raised $125+ billion in private capital with implicit state backing — the first cohort of our SBIC Critical Technologies Initiative might raise $4 billion. China provides low-cost loans at scale — we haven't raised the loan caps or appropriations for our own manufacturer credit program. China deploys technical assistance to thousands of firms through universities and state institutes — we just cut the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and effectively shuttered its key offices. At every level, there is a "gap" between our approach and theirs. 3️⃣ Small businesses matter because they are the path to American reindustrialization. Large firms dominate U.S. manufacturing and have for decades. But small businesses enable them. 70% of Boeing's Dreamliner comes from smaller suppliers. 60% of all aerospace and defense employment is in small and mid-sized firms. The story is similar in automotives. We cannot win the industrial future if we do not empower our small businesses. 4️⃣ China is far ahead in manufacturing, and expanding the lead. By some estimates, China spends roughly $400 billion on industrial policy per year. The entire US CHIPS Act provided $50 billion over multiple years. Since China's WTO accession, our share of global manufacturing has fallen by half — from 30% to 15% — while China's quintupled from 6% to 30%. It now exceeds the next nine countries combined. It's not exactly slowing down. 5⃣ Here's what we should do. Immediately reauthorize SBIR and STTR. Launch an American one-stop-shop certification that bundles loans, equity, R&D support, and regulatory relief into one coordinated package. Scale up the SBIC Critical Technologies Initiative. Raise the quantity and caps for the SBA's Manufacturer's Access to Revolving Credit program. Restore the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. And give the SBA the mandate to deploy all of these together — the way China does. This is just a start, and a comprehensive answer to China's programs will require even more. The SBA has plenty of tools. What it lacks is the architecture to coordinate the use them. China built that architecture. It is working. Thanks to @HouseSmallBiz for the opportunity and grateful to join Andrew Pahutski, Sean Murphy, and Tom Lyons for the hearing.







































