Published by ChinaMNC · Si

China's New Push to Integrate Tech and Industry: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

A practical guide for foreign founders on China's latest policy to deepen the integration of technological and industrial innovation, outlining key measures that affect company registration, R&D, and operations in China.

China's New Push to Integrate Tech and Industry: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

The Chinese government has issued a new policy aimed at deepening the integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. For foreign founders registering or operating a company in China, this signals a more coordinated approach to innovation that could affect how businesses access government support, collaborate with research institutions, and commercialize new technologies. Below is a summary of the key measures based on the official document.

1. Strengthened Coordination of Innovation

The policy calls for better coordination of strategic planning, major tasks, and policies across science, technology, and industry. It emphasizes aligning policies in technology, industry, finance, education, and talent. Monitoring and evaluation will be conducted for local regions and industries, with a focus on how technological innovation drives industrial development. For foreign founders, this means keeping an eye on local implementation and ensuring your company's innovation activities align with regional priorities.

2. Reform of How Research Tasks Are Organized

National science and technology programs will become more industry-oriented. Companies' needs will be regularly collected, and experts from enterprises and venture capital firms will have a greater role in guideline drafting, project review, and acceptance. Companies leading projects will benefit from improved management rules, including mechanisms like "open bidding" and "milestone" management with phased funding. Project acceptance will assess both technological and industrialization goals. Foreign-invested enterprises may find more opportunities to participate in national projects if they can demonstrate industry relevance.

3. Smoother Technology Transfer

For national science and technology projects with clear industrial application goals, companies will generally lead implementation and commercialization. Universities and research institutes are encouraged to set up technology transfer offices and use mechanisms like licensing and equity investment to speed up application. Reforms will grant researchers more rights over their inventions and allow deferred payment for licensing to small and medium-sized enterprises. A unified national technology market will be developed, with professional technology transfer agencies and technology managers. Foreign founders can tap into these channels to access technologies developed in China.

4. Scenario-Driven Innovation

A demonstration action for new technologies, products, and scenarios will be implemented, with greater efforts to cultivate and open application scenarios. Local governments are supported to open scenarios in government services, smart cities, and rural construction. Information on technology and scenario supply and demand will be pooled and published. Foreign companies with innovative solutions may find opportunities to pilot their technologies in these open scenarios.

5. Breakthroughs in Key Core Technologies

The policy aims for decisive breakthroughs in key core technologies in areas such as integrated circuits, industrial mother machines, high-end instruments, advanced materials, and biomanufacturing. Industrial base re-engineering and major equipment projects will be deepened, with a focus on weak links, basic components, key basic software, and advanced basic processes. Foreign founders in these sectors should monitor opportunities for collaboration and supply chain integration.

6. Cultivating Emerging and Future Industries

Original and disruptive technological innovation will be used to foster new and future industries. This includes basic research and底层 technology R&D, identification of disruptive technologies, and implementation of industrial innovation projects. Strategic emerging industries like new energy, new materials, and aerospace will be accelerated, with clusters built according to local conditions. The low-altitude economy will be developed. In frontier fields such as quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and 6G, diverse technical routes and business models will be explored to commercialize frontier technologies. Foreign founders in these deep-tech areas may find a supportive ecosystem.

7. Upgrading Traditional Industries with Advanced Technologies

Major technological transformation and large-scale equipment renewal projects in manufacturing will be implemented. Industrial internet innovation will be accelerated, and the integration of the digital and real economies will be promoted, driving intelligent, green, and integrated manufacturing. Agricultural science and technology will be strengthened. The "AI+" action will be fully implemented to empower all industries with artificial intelligence. Foreign companies in traditional sectors can leverage these upgrades to improve efficiency.

8. Enhancing Enterprise Innovation Capacity

Enterprises will have a regular channel to participate in national science and technology strategies and policy-making. The National Natural Science Foundation will pilot opening to private enterprises, and enterprise innovation joint funds will be expanded. State-owned enterprises are encouraged to establish R&D reserve funds with independent accounting and exemption from value-preservation assessments, as well as fault-tolerant mechanisms. Tech SMEs will be encouraged to increase R&D investment, with a higher super deduction rate for R&D expenses. Enterprises are supported to lead the construction of science and technology innovation platforms. National major science infrastructures and large research instruments will be opened to enterprises. Talent programs will increase support for enterprises, and enterprise post-doctoral stations will be strengthened. Foreign-invested companies may qualify for some of these incentives if they are registered in China and meet the criteria.

9. Cultivating and Expanding Technology Enterprises

The policy aims to optimize the cultivation of leading technology enterprises, support high-tech enterprises, and improve the cultivation mechanisms for tech SMEs, specialized and sophisticated "little giant" enterprises, and manufacturing single-champion enterprises. Technology startups will be nurtured with improved incubation and financing services. Collaboration among large, medium, and small enterprises will be deepened, with large enterprises encouraged to open R&D platforms, application scenarios, and supply chains to SMEs and to pilot innovative products from SMEs. Foreign founders can benefit from these supply chain openings.

10. Strengthening Collaboration Among Innovation Actors

Leading technology enterprises are supported to play a chain-leader role in innovation and industrial chains, and to lead the formation of innovation consortia. National laboratories, research institutes, and research universities will strengthen cooperation with leading enterprises, distilling scientific questions from industrial needs and conducting strategic and forward-looking technology research. Enterprises are encouraged to participate in university and research institute activities and talent training, and to jointly build R&D institutions and projects. Foreign companies can seek partnerships with these actors.

11. Promoting a Virtuous Cycle of Technology, Industry, and Finance

A science and technology finance system will be built to meet the financing needs of tech enterprises throughout their life cycle. The national venture capital guidance fund will play a role. Government-funded and state-owned venture capital funds will focus on early-stage, small, long-term, and hard-tech investments, with improved long-term assessment, differentiated regulation, and exit mechanisms. The "innovation points system" will be promoted to quantitatively assess the innovation capacity of tech SMEs. A "tech board" in the bond market will be built with high quality. A science and technology insurance policy system will be established. Foreign founders can explore these financing channels.

12. Collaborative Talent Training and Utilization

Education will be aligned with technological innovation, industrial development, and national strategic needs. Discipline adjustment mechanisms will involve multiple parties. Joint school-enterprise programs, work-study alternation, and "dual mentor" systems will be promoted. Policies for researchers to take temporary posts, part-time jobs, and start businesses will be improved, and models like science and technology commissioners will be promoted. Universities and research institutes are supported to hire enterprise innovators as industry mentors and professors. Young科技 talent will be supported in innovation and entrepreneurship, and technology entrepreneurs will be cultivated. Foreign founders can tap into these talent pipelines.

13. Building Integrated Innovation Platforms

National emerging industry innovation centers, national industrial technology engineering centers, national technology innovation centers, and national manufacturing innovation centers will be laid out in a coordinated manner to strengthen key common technology supply for key industries. Concept verification centers and pilot testing platforms will be built to serve the industrialization of new technologies and products. Restructured research institutes are supported to build industrial technology research institutes and other common technology platforms. Local governments are supported to develop new R&D institutions in a regulated way. Foreign companies can access these platforms for testing and validation.

14. Improving the Market Environment for Innovation

Institutional barriers that restrict innovative products from entering the market will be removed. Pilot programs for relaxed market access will be carried out in new business forms and fields, exploring a commitment-based entry system. Regulation of new technology applications will be strengthened, and "sandbox regulation" will be explored. Laws and regulations in frontier fields such as AI and biotechnology will be improved, and science ethics rules will be perfected. Foreign founders should be aware of these evolving regulatory approaches.

15. Intellectual Property Protection, Utilization, and Standards

Protection of trade secrets and IP in new business forms will be strengthened, with benefit-sharing and risk-sharing mechanisms in industry-university-research cooperation and technology transfer. The patent open licensing system will be fully implemented. Patent layout for major national science and technology projects will be strengthened. Standard layout will be coordinated with setting standard research tasks and assessment goals. National and international standards in frontier fields will be developed, and pre-standard research will be strengthened. Enterprise and group standards will be improved. Foreign companies should ensure their IP strategies align with these developments.

16. Improving Innovation Incentives and Evaluation Policies

A full-chain policy system for innovation activities will be improved, and tax incentives for technological innovation will be implemented. Due diligence exemption mechanisms for technology transfer and venture capital will be improved, with negative lists explored. The classified assessment system for state-owned enterprises will be improved, and the proportion of joint R&D expenses with universities and research institutes treated as profit added back will be increased. Industry-university-research cooperation and technology transfer results will be important in evaluating research universities, institutes, and researchers. Foreign-invested enterprises may benefit from tax incentives if eligible.

17. Supporting Local Pilot Programs

Macro guidance for local science and technology and industrial layouts will be strengthened, guiding regions to build on their endowments. Central-local coordination will be enhanced, with mechanisms for shared science and technology investment and joint implementation of major tasks. The regional innovation system will be improved, and cross-regional collaborative innovation will be strengthened. Various science and technology innovation and industrial innovation functional zones will be developed, and national high-tech zones and independent innovation demonstration zones will pilot policies. International and regional science and technology innovation centers and qualified localities will carry out pilot reforms for deep integration, implement actions to stimulate industrial innovation vitality, build vibrant innovation cities, and create sources of original innovation. Foreign founders should monitor local policies in their areas of operation.

Call to Action: Foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.

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