Zhoushan rolls out guidelines to bolster innovation

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province recently unveiled new guidelines to step up its technical innovation.

Local enterprises will be subsidized to ramp up their research and development. Enterprises above a designated size – those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.8million) or more - will be rewarded with a subsidy of 10 percent of the incremental portion of their R&D investment over the previous year, to a maximum of 500,000 yuan, the guideline said.

Their annual R&D investment budget should be at least two million yuan and sustain growth for two years in a row. In addition, the growth rate should be over 10 percent over the previous year.

A special fund worth more than 10 million yuan will be set up by the government to mobilize innovation among companies in the cit'’s pillar sectors -including petrochemical materials, modern aviation, marine life, marine electronic information, ships and marine equipment and modern fisheries, according to the document.

Meanwhile, incentives will also be provided to build or bring in high-tech innovation platforms.

Enterprises listed at the provincial and municipal level will be entitled to government subsidies worth two million and one million yuan respectively. A one-time subsidy of 500,000 yuan will be given to the newly recognized provincial key laboratories and engineering technology research centers.

High-tech enterprises, research institutes and business incubators classified at the provincial level or above will also be granted subsidies.

Zhoushan has seen strong results in its marine technical innovation in recent years. Over the past three years, it has introduced more than 60 marine high-tech industrial projects. The world's first marine tidal power station was constructed in the city.

Currently, Zhoushan houses a total of 180 high-tech enterprises and 959 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises. By 2022, both numbers are targeted to exceed 260 and 1,250 respectively.

By then, the city's spending on R&D will account for two percent of its total economic output, officials said.