Promote the development and growth of the private economy, support technological innovation in enterprises (through in-depth observation, unblocking the "bloodline" of funds, and strengthening policies)
The staff of Jiangxi Yueci Rare Earth New Material Technology Co., Ltd. are testing the equipment and recording data.
Photo by Liu Susu
data
The Changxing Island Fine Chemical Innovation Park in Dalian, Liaoning Province, under development and construction.
Ningyi Photography
The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy" released on July 19th proposed to "support the enhancement of scientific and technological innovation capabilities" and "accelerate the promotion of digital transformation and technological transformation".
Private economy is a new force to promote Chinese path to modernization and an important foundation for high-quality development. What aspects can fiscal, tax, and financial policies focus on supporting private enterprises to enhance their technological innovation capabilities, accelerate digital transformation and technological transformation? How have the recent related achievements been? How can future policies continue to be strengthened? The reporter conducted an interview.
Encourage private enterprises to actively undertake major national science and technology projects
On the Delingha Gobi Desert at an altitude of about 3000 meters in Qinghai Province, a silver tower shines brightly in the sunlight. The bottom row of "mirrors" slowly rotate in the direction of the sun, collecting sunlight and reflecting it onto the tower's heat absorber. Inside the heat absorber, light energy is converted into thermal energy for storage.
Zhejiang Kesheng Technology Co., Ltd. is a private enterprise. Chairman Jin Jianxiang is the chief designer of the Qinghai Zhongkong Delingha 50 MW tower type molten salt energy storage photothermal power plant and also a doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University.
In 2010, Zhejiang Kesheng's technical team arrived in Qinghai and began to tackle the problem of solar thermal power generation. From more than 200 heliostats in small-scale trials to the 10 MW tower solar thermal power plant in Delingha, and then to the transformation of the molten salt storage and heat exchange system in Delingha's 10 MW power plant... Ultimately, the core technology of tower molten salt solar thermal power generation was conquered, and tower solar thermal power plants were successfully built, with over 95% of the equipment achieving localization.
Recently, this research project has won the first prize for technological invention in Zhejiang Province and the first prize for scientific and technological progress in Qinghai Province, forming 205 valid patents. It has participated in the compilation of 3 international standards, 5 national standards, and 10 industry standards.
"We can persist for more than 10 years without the support of national policies." Jin Jianxiang calculated that over the years, from national ministries to local governments in Zhejiang, Qinghai, and other regions, various types of investment in enterprises have reached 300 million yuan. "Government support not only solves the urgent needs of enterprises, but also makes shareholders feel that the country recognizes technology and has confidence in investing," said Jin Jianxiang.
Nowadays, more and more private enterprises like Zhejiang Kesheng Company are receiving policy support and participating in major technology projects. The Opinion clearly encourages private enterprises to continuously increase research and development investment, carry out key core technology research and development, and actively undertake national major scientific and technological projects in accordance with national strategic needs and industry development trends.
Zhou Xiao, an assistant researcher at the Chinese Academy of Financial Sciences, believes that private enterprises have advantages in participating in major scientific and technological breakthroughs. Firstly, they have the advantage of rooting in the market, knowing the pain points and bottlenecks of the industrial and innovation chains, which is conducive to clarifying the key directions of major scientific and technological breakthroughs; Secondly, long-term deep cultivation has established a certain technological accumulation and innovation foundation in some fields, which is conducive to accelerating the implementation process of major scientific and technological breakthroughs; Thirdly, it is flexible and adaptable, able to actively explore different technological routes, which is conducive to reducing the trial and error costs of major scientific and technological breakthroughs; The fourth is to have a strong willingness to obtain external resources and seek external cooperation, which is conducive to building a collaborative system for major scientific and technological breakthroughs.
According to the data released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration, private enterprises, as an important subject of scientific and technological innovation, contribute 70% of the technological innovation achievements of the whole society, covering 80% of the national "little giants" specializing in special and new technologies and 90% of high-tech enterprises.
In November 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a document proposing to encourage private capital to actively participate in the construction of national innovation platforms and support private enterprises to undertake major national scientific and technological strategic tasks. Recently, the Notice on Implementing Several Recent Measures to Promote the Development of Private Economy jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments proposed to support private enterprises to participate in major scientific and technological breakthroughs, and take the lead in undertaking key tasks in industrial software, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet, gene and cell medicine, new energy storage and other fields.
"This is an important direction for a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, as well as an important area for China to cultivate new driving forces and advantages for future development." Zhou Xiao believes that industrial software and other fields are at the forefront of industrial development, and private enterprises have become the backbone of them.
Shanghai and Jiangsu support private enterprises to participate in local major scientific and technological innovation decision-making consultation, and support private enterprises to undertake national scientific and technological plan projects; Inner Mongolia will provide a maximum annual financial subsidy of 5 million yuan for major scientific and technological projects of enterprises based on their R&D investment intensity and incremental growth rate in the previous year... Local governments will use real and practical measures to enhance the driving force of scientific and technological innovation in enterprises.
Professor Cai Ning from the School of Public Administration of Zhejiang University believes that to further support technological innovation in private enterprises, the future should focus on supporting cutting-edge, basic, and common technological research, and continue to reduce the research and development costs and technological risks of major innovations in private enterprises; To leverage the role of market mechanisms through the guidance of industrial innovation funds, and further support the engineering experiments and market-oriented applications of major breakthrough technologies in private enterprises; We need to better utilize government procurement policies, tax incentives, and other measures to effectively reduce the market size threshold for the application of major technological breakthroughs in private enterprises.
Support collaborative innovation between private enterprises, universities, research institutions, etc
On Changxing Island in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, coastal shipyards and petrochemical bases are intensifying construction, creating a bustling scene. In the fine chemical innovation park on the island, golden seeds of technological innovation in the petrochemical industry are sprouting one after another.
High value-added fine chemicals, carbon dioxide capture agents, new medicines, super efficient pesticides and their intermediates... These achievements of Dalian Baojie Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. are mostly based on the State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals of Dalian University of Technology.
"Dalian Baojie Chemical is a private enterprise that has jointly developed more than 30 characteristic fine chemical products with Dalian University of Technology, achieving pilot testing and industrial incubation of multiple achievements. Professor Gao Yan from Dalian University of Technology told reporters that projects such as carbon dioxide capture entered the trial production stage in September, and it is expected that the annual output value after reaching production will reach hundreds of millions of yuan.".
In this innovation park, there are many good stories of private enterprises collaborating with research institutions such as universities to innovate.
When mentioning the scientific and technological innovation achievements in the park, the relevant responsible persons of Dalian Changxing Scientific and Technological Innovation Enterprise Service Co., Ltd. are familiar with: eight mature technologies such as ethylene amine of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences have been directly applied in Hengli Petrochemical Plant to ensure national energy security; 36 enterprises have settled in the Fine Chemical Innovation Park and Biomedical Innovation Park, with a total investment of nearly 10 billion yuan. They have incubated multiple projects that fill the domestic gap, such as polyimide monomers, polyphenylene ether, and boron isotopes
The Opinion clearly states that we should promote the integration and innovation of enterprises with different ownership systems, as well as large, medium and small enterprises, and carry out joint research and development of common technologies. Support the cooperation between private enterprises and research institutions to establish innovation platforms such as technology research and development centers, industrial research institutes, pilot maturation bases, engineering research centers, and manufacturing innovation centers.
Across the country, more and more innovative communities have been achieved through the dual efforts of industry and research, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. According to data from the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce, in 2022, out of the top 1000 private enterprises invested in research and development, 908 enterprises cooperated with research institutes and higher education institutions, mainly through project cooperation, joint construction of research and development institutions, and joint construction of disciplines and majors; A total of 236 enterprises have participated in the construction of various innovation bases such as the National Engineering Research Center and the national science and technology innovation center in the field.
Entrepreneurs set questions and scientists answer questions without the support of the government. In Changxing Island, the management committee has commissioned a science and technology innovation company to construct standardized factories in accordance with fine chemical standards, and to equip research and development sites such as pilot workshops and analysis and testing centers for settled projects, as well as production infrastructure such as water, electricity, gas, and heating, as well as supporting public and auxiliary engineering such as steam and sewage treatment. The company also collaborates with office and living facilities such as office areas, catering service centers, expert apartments, and commuting buses to meet the on-site research and living needs of scientific researchers, creating a full process incubation chain from entrepreneurial nurseries to incubators, accelerators, and industrialization.
At the same time, project support will be provided in various aspects such as factory buildings, funds, taxation, and supporting services to reduce operational risks during the start-up period of enterprises, further upgrade the functions of incubators and accelerators, and form a full process innovation achievement transformation system from scientific research to transfer and transformation, start-up development, and industrial integration.
"Supporting various innovative entities such as enterprises, universities, and research institutes to cooperate and build innovation platforms, the implementation of relevant policies will help to form a larger scale, more efficient, and collaborative innovation system with close interaction and voluntary cooperation between supply and demand, thereby consolidating the foundation of deep integration of industry and education and high-quality economic development," said Zhou Xiao.
Accelerate the promotion of digital transformation and technological transformation
Jiangxi Yueci Rare Earth New Material Technology Co., Ltd., located in Ganzhou High tech Industrial Development Zone, Ganxian District, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, is a rare earth new material and application enterprise that integrates research and development, production, and sales of permanent magnet materials, permanent magnet motors, and intelligent equipment in the magnetic material industry. Ma Jianlan, the person in charge of the General Manager's Office of the company, told reporters that the competition in this field is relatively fierce. Improving product quality and cost control through technological innovation is the key to maintaining a competitive advantage for the company.
"In recent years, the company has received various financial subsidies and policy 'gift packages' every year, totaling seven to eight million yuan, giving the enterprise more confidence to engage in research and development. Taking the ongoing digital transformation as an example, this working capital support is needed. Ma Jianlan said that after the company completes its digital transformation, it not only achieves real-time control of the production process, but also links upstream and downstream enterprise data to achieve more scientific and efficient management of product design, raw material procurement, production capacity and quality control, and warehouse allocation, further consolidating the company's competitive advantage.".
To support more traditional non-ferrous metal enterprises in achieving digital transformation and upgrading, Gan County District has strengthened financial support and supported the creation of digital economy clusters. The operating entities of the national, provincial, and municipal level digital economy industry clusters will be given one-time creation subsidies, and digital product manufacturing enterprises with annual revenue of 100 million yuan, 500 million yuan, 1 billion yuan, and above will be given one-time rewards. At the same time, fully leverage the role of credit products such as "Caiyuan Credit Connect" and "Kedai Connect" in supporting the development of enterprises. For market-oriented fund investment institutions such as angel investment, venture capital, and venture capital that invest in digital economy core industry enterprises through equity, after recognition, investment institutions will be given certain rewards.
With the strengthening of policies, the willingness of enterprises to undergo digital transformation has increased. In the first half of this year, Gan County District added 124 new cloud based enterprises, bringing the total to 1307, creating a group of deep cloud based enterprises.
Similarly, the finance of Liling City, Hunan Province has invested in the unified procurement of Sibo Technology's intelligent manufacturing information platform, which will be provided to local ceramic enterprises for free use. At present, more than 50 ceramic enterprises have used the platform products, and the automation and intelligent replacement rate of Liling ceramic enterprises exceeds 70%.
The Opinions clearly stated that private enterprises should be encouraged to carry out digital generic technology research and development and participate in the investment, construction and application innovation of new infrastructure such as data centers and industrial Internet. Support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, promote the promotion and application of low-cost, modular intelligent manufacturing equipment and systems.
From providing direct funding subsidies for technology transformation projects of private enterprises, to providing financing support for enterprise related projects through technology transformation funds, financing guarantee companies, financial financing interest subsidies, and other means; From providing premium subsidies, direct incentives and tax incentives, to direct investment or capital injection, subsidies and incentives, etc., to lead or support the creation of manufacturing innovation centers, industrial Internet platforms, and public service platforms for SMEs; From vigorously selecting and cultivating digital service providers, formulating guidelines for the transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, to conducting specialized training for business operators or owners... Currently, the "policy supply" system for promoting the digital transformation of private enterprises is gradually improving from the central to local levels.
Not long ago, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued a notice on conducting pilot projects for digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in cities, which clearly stated that from 2023 to 2025, it is planned to organize pilot projects for digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in cities in three batches. At the end of the pilot implementation period, it is necessary to achieve the goal of "making changes as much as possible" for small and medium-sized enterprises in industries above designated size and "willing to make changes as much as possible" for small and medium-sized enterprises in industries below designated size. That is to say, the proportion of digitalization level two or above for small and medium-sized enterprises in industries above designated size in each segmented industry should reach over 90%, and the proportion of digitalization level two or above for small and medium-sized enterprises in industries below designated size should achieve a significant increase.
"Supporting private enterprises to participate in major scientific and technological breakthroughs, carry out digital transformation and technological transformation, is a systematic project that benefits the long term." Zhou Xiao said that in addition to implementing the detailed "Opinions," in the future, efforts should be focused on improving the pertinence, accuracy, and effectiveness of policies to ensure that limited public resources can be transformed into stronger assistance. In terms of supporting objects, we should focus on the relatively weak core links in the industrial chain and innovation chain; In terms of support scope, we should accelerate the improvement of policy support's inclusiveness, fairness, and consistency; In terms of support methods, we should accelerate the construction of digital public service platforms, relying on them to achieve scientific decision-making, precise policy implementation, and dynamic adjustment, and maximize policy effectiveness.
