Published by ChinaMNC · Gaoling

China's New Push to Fuse Science and Industry: What Foreign Founders Should Know

A practical read for foreign founders on China's official opinion linking technological innovation with industrial innovation, covering enterprise-led R&D, IP, financing, talent and local pilot programs.

Why this policy matters for foreign founders

China's central authorities have issued an opinion on deepening the integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation. For foreign founders building or registering a company in China, the document signals how government support, funding channels and regulatory experimentation are likely to be organized around enterprises. It sets goals and working principles rather than binding rules, but it maps the direction of travel across R&D programs, technology transfer, financing and talent.

Guiding principles

The opinion frames integration around a system in which enterprises play the leading role and other participants collaborate across industry, academia and research. It calls for aligning the innovation chain with industrial needs, strengthening the market mechanisms that reward innovation, and removing institutional obstacles to integration. It also stresses systematic planning and coordination between technology supply and demand.

Key measures relevant to companies

Coordinated planning and project design

Authorities intend to coordinate major policies, projects and programs in frontier fields, and to align technology, industry, finance, education and talent policies. Monitoring and evaluation of integration will be conducted for localities and sectors, with innovation-driven industrial development as a focus.

National science and technology programs will give more weight to industrial application. Enterprise needs will be collected on a regular basis, and experts from companies and venture capital firms will be included in guideline drafting, project review and acceptance. Enterprise-led projects will be supported through mechanisms such as open calls for solutions, milestone management and phased funding. Acceptance will assess both research targets and industrialization goals.

Technology transfer and application

For national science and technology projects with clear industrial application goals, enterprises are expected in principle to lead implementation and drive commercialization. Universities and research institutes are encouraged to set up technology transfer offices, strengthen services in intellectual property, incubation and technology finance, and transfer or license results. Reforms will grant researchers rights to job-related results and treat such assets separately. Universities and institutes are encouraged to license results to small and medium-sized enterprises on a pay-after-use basis. A nationwide technology market and a technology manager workforce are also planned.

A demonstration program will support new technologies, products and application scenarios, with local governments opening scenarios in government services, smart cities and rural construction.

Industrial priorities

The opinion targets decisive breakthroughs in core technologies in integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, high-end instruments, advanced materials and biomanufacturing, alongside efforts on basic components, software, materials and processes. It calls for developing strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials and aerospace, and for healthy, orderly development of the low-altitude economy. In frontier fields including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence and sixth-generation mobile communications, it encourages exploring multiple technical routes, application scenarios and business models to commercialize frontier technologies.

Traditional industries are to be upgraded through major manufacturing technology renovation, large-scale equipment renewal, industrial internet development and the "AI Plus" initiative. Agricultural research and technology services are also covered.

Strengthening enterprise innovation

Enterprises will have regular channels to participate in national strategies, plans and policies. The National Natural Science Foundation is to pilot opening to private enterprises, and enterprise innovation joint funds will expand. State-owned enterprises are encouraged to establish R&D reserve funds with separate accounting, exemption from value-preservation assessment and error tolerance. Technology-based SMEs are encouraged to increase R&D spending, with a higher super-deduction ratio for R&D expenses. Enterprises are supported in building innovation platforms, and national major science infrastructure, large research instruments and science data centers are to open to enterprises. Talent programs and enterprise postdoctoral stations will be strengthened.

Support extends to technology-leading firms, high-tech enterprises, specialized and sophisticated "little giant" firms, manufacturing single champions and technology startups. Large enterprises are encouraged to open R&D platforms, application scenarios and supply chains to SMEs and to pilot their innovative products.

Collaboration, finance and talent

Leading technology firms are encouraged to act as chain leaders and form innovation consortia. National laboratories, research institutes and research universities are to deepen cooperation with enterprises and draw scientific questions from industrial needs. A technology finance system is to cover enterprises' full life cycle, with the national venture capital guidance fund playing a role. Government-backed and state-owned venture funds will emphasize early-stage, small, long-term and hard-tech investment, with longer assessment cycles and differentiated regulation. The "innovation points" system, a bond market segment for technology and a technology insurance policy system are also mentioned.

On talent, the opinion calls for adjusting disciplines with input from technology and industry departments, promoting school-enterprise joint training and dual mentorship, and supporting researchers' secondment, part-time work and leave to start businesses. Enterprises may hire innovation talent as industry mentors and professors, and young scientists and technology entrepreneurs are to be supported.

Platforms, market environment and IP

Innovation platforms include national emerging industry innovation centers, industrial technology engineering centers, technology innovation centers and manufacturing innovation centers, plus proof-of-concept and pilot-testing platforms. Local new-type R&D institutions are to be developed in a regulated way.

Market access pilots, commitment-based entry and sandbox regulation will be explored for new business forms, while laws and ethics rules for fields such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology are to be improved. Intellectual property protection will be strengthened, including trade secrets and new business forms, with benefit-sharing and risk-sharing mechanisms in industry-academia-research cooperation. The patent open licensing system will be fully implemented, and standards work will be strengthened in frontier fields.

Innovation incentives include tax preferences, due-diligence exemption mechanisms and negative lists for technology transfer and venture investment, and adjustments to state-owned enterprise assessment.

Local pilots

Localities are encouraged to build on their own strengths, with central-local coordination on funding and major tasks. National high-tech zones and independent innovation demonstration zones may pilot policies first, and qualified regions and innovation centers may run integration pilot programs.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.