Shenzhen offers new support for high-end equipment industry

Shenzhen Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau has put into effect a new set of operational procedures to provide financial support for high-end equipment and instrument industry cluster, aiming at accelerating the high-quality development of the cluster.

The procedures, which became effective recently, clearly define four major categories of subsidy support and set maximum subsidy amounts for each.

According to the procedures, major strategic original R&D projects are eligible for maximum subsidy of 3 million yuan (US$419,700) per project. It targets breakthrough projects in whole machines and core components across a range of strategic equipment sectors, including wafter-manufacturing tools such as thin-film deposition equipment, ion implanters and thin-film metrology devices; panel-manufacturing front and mid-process equipment such as lithography/exposure machines; ultra-precision CNC lathes, milling and grinding machines and composite machining centers; high-end electronic testing instruments, geometric metrology instruments and scientific laboratory equipment, and major deep-sea mining equipment.

Shenzhen will offer up to 1 million yuan for the promotion and application of domestically controllable equipment interconnection protocols. The measures support adoption of the NC-link interconnection communication protocol by CNC equipment (built-in or compatible), adaptation of industrial software to NC-Link, and deployment of digital factory/workshop solutions based on NC-Link.

Under the policy, enterprises that develop breakthrough or advanced complete machines (including systems) or core components are eligible to apply for subsidy of up to 10 million yuan available to support commercialization and wider application.

To address common lifecycle service needs, the initiative backs accelerated supply of critical and scarce public services, and incentives for such service platforms construction can reach as much as 10 million yuan. Supported projects include robot testing and certification platforms, machine tool process-service platforms, precision instrument calibration and testing platforms, and rail transit equipment testing and certification service platforms.