Subsidies offered to innovation platforms, industrial parks

The Qianhai Authority officialy releases the Special Fund for Supporting the Development of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Platforms on Monday. Courtesy of Qianhai Communication Center

Innovation platforms, industrial parks and incubators that have registered or have operation sectors in Qianhai now can apply for subsidies of up to 30 million yuan (US$4.24 million), according to a policy rolled out by the Qianhai Authority on Monday.

The Special Fund for Supporting the Development of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Platforms, which was jointly set up by the authority and its wholly owned company Qianhai Inno-Tech Investment, aims to support science and technology development and industrial incubating in the free trade area.

According to the authorities, innovation platforms, including labs, technology centers, innovation centers, R&D institutions, common technology (services) platforms and entrepreneurship platforms — such as mass innovation spaces, incubators, accelerators and technology industrial parks — in Qianhai are eligible to apply for seven kinds of financial aid offered by the fund.

Applicants can choose to apply for the establishment fund, operations fund, rent and property fee fund, fund for recognized high-tech companies, fund for financing, fund for organizing forums and entrepreneurship competitions, and government support fund.

They can also apply for several subsidies simultaneously.

According to the detailed regulation, the financial aid for one innovation platform should not exceed 30 million yuan and the total subsidy for one entrepreneurship platform will be no more than 20 million yuan.

The fund is designed to incline toward industries like new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, low-carbon technology, biomedicine, digital economy, new materials, marine economy and cultural creativity.

Wang Yanxia, vice director of the Qianhai Authority, said that Qianhai will continue to provide more favorable policies to support the development of tech companies and entrepreneurs. She also encouraged the startup teams in Qianhai to seize opportunities created by the authorities to develop in a fast track and embrace a bigger market.

To build a better environment for innovation, Qianhai Inno-Tech Investment also signed contracts Monday with Alibaba Cloud Computing Co. and Hubei Media Group to cooperate on the digital economy and cooperate on creating programs, such as Informal Talks, that feature cross-culture topics, respectively.

The Shenzhen Graphene Institute and Shenzhen Qianhai Graphene Industry Co., Ltd. were inaugurated on the same day.