Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ), a renowned auto production hub in China, is promised to give a support fund of 800 million yuan ($123.67 million) per year to encourage scientific and technological innovation among local enterprises.
The remarks were made by Liu Shibao, deputy secretary of the WHDZ Working Committee, on July 7 at a launch ceremony for the 33 measures to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and to contribute to the city's goal of building a national sci-tech innovation center.
The measures provide solutions to enterprises' problems and difficulties while seeking innovative development. The new policies are better, lower the threshold, and give stronger support for enterprises seeking innovation.
According to the measures, the development zone-level support fund for hi-tech firms is raised to 300,000 yuan, 50 percent higher than that of the city's average. That for hi-tech firms moving in the zone from outside the city reaches 600,000 yuan, 20 percent higher than that of the city's average. Moreover, new micro, small and medium-sized tech firms in the zone will be given an initial fund of 600,000 yuan and rent subsidies for a 200-square-meter space.
The support of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and service agencies has been recently added to the list. The zone's policies are the best among other cities in Hubei province and among development zones of the same caliber nationwide. The research fund for technological breakthroughs has the potential to reach 45 million yuan per project, doubling the amount of some development zones in coastal regions, which would make it the highest in the country.
The measures encourage local hi-tech enterprises and enterprises above designated size to build R&D platforms. Those newly-recognized as state-level and provincial-level sci-tech innovation platforms will be awarded a maximum of 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively. Research institutes at local leading enterprises and universities, national key labs, and national manufacturing innovation centers can get support funds of over 100 million yuan. The support fund for academicians' projects can reach 50 million yuan.
Outstanding research personnel will be amply rewarded and related enterprises will call the shots, officials at the zone said. Each person can receive a reward of a maximum of 200,000 yuan per year.
The development zone has insisted on creating a better environment for innovation and encouraging technological breakthroughs in the automobile, home appliance, intellectual manufacturing, new energy, new materials and bio-medicine industries. It has nurtured a unicorn enterprise ECARX Technology Co, 33 high-growth gazelle companies, 50 small tech giants, and 331 hi-tech firms, and has 53 provincial-level and above enterprise research institutes and two national enterprise technology centers. The output value of its hi-tech industries has exceeded 200 billion yuan. The zone has become a hub of talented personnel, sci-tech innovation and technology transfer in Wuhan.
