Sun Weijie, board chairman of Jereh Oilfield Services Group, is awarded the honor of "Leading Entrepreneur in Shandong". [Photo/Dazhong News]

Sun Weijie, board chairman of Yantai-based Jereh Oilfield Services Group in East China's Shandong province, was awarded the honor of "Leading Entrepreneur in Shandong" on Feb 7, and the prize is an affirmation of Jereh's innovation-driven development.

Jereh has made a commitment to innovation-driven development in recent years, and has increased its investment in technology innovation in order to turn the company into an internationally recognized brand.

The company has invested more than 1 billion yuan ($158.14 million) in research and development (R&D) since 2016. Jereh now houses six innovation platforms at or above the provincial level, and eight global R&D bases have been built.

According to official data, Jereh has received 1,176 patents to date, filling a number of technical deficiencies in the domains of oil, gas, and environmental protection equipment in the country. It has also achieved numerous "firsts" both domestically and internationally, including the world's first intelligent sand conveyor installation.

In recent years, Jereh has beefed up efforts to expedite the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, and developed a batch of new products. The company has also ventured into the fields of new energy resources and materials, collaborating with Fujian's Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory to encourage the R&D of new environmentally friendly materials.

Jereh was selected to the third list of national "little giant" corporations for its contributions to environmental preservation. "Little giants" refer to small businesses in their early stages of development that focus on high-end technologies.

Jereh is currently quickening its pace in order to facilitate digital and intelligent transformations, with the goal of becoming a high-tech company. In order to improve its core competitiveness, efforts will be undertaken to explore new areas and expand its industrial chains.