China Unveils New Raft of Innovation-Supportive Initiatives

The Circular on Promoting the Second Batch of Reform Initiatives in Support of Innovation, as recently issued by the General Office of the State Council, outlined a raft of new national initiatives designed to support innovation activities. According to the Circular, the initiatives consist of measures that will be promoted nationwide and in the eight regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai, Guangdong (Pearl River Delta), Anhui (Hefei, Wuhu and Bengbu), Sichuan (Chengdu, Deyang and Mianyang), Wuhan of Hubei, Xi’an of Shaanxi, and Shenyang of Liaoning.

Among the specific measures advocated are the following:

• Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
  Steps will be taken to promote “three-in-one adjudication” when it comes to handling civil, criminal and administrative intellectual property cases, while efforts will also be made to further strengthen the intellectual property protection mechanism

• Rewarding the Commercialisation of R&D
  Enhanced efforts will be made to reward institutions and individuals in the commercialisation of R& D activities. This will include ensuring technical managers participate in / benefit from any such exploitation and establishing a mechanism that guarantees that all relevant stakeholders interests are protected, with both investment sums and technological achievements granted equity status

• Supporting Fintech Innovation
  Measures will be implemented that broaden the range of financing options open to technology enterprises. These will include establishing science and technology innovation boards on many regional equity markets and adopting broader risk parameters for the use of local government funding in the support of fledgling technology businesses

For further details (in Chinese), please access the following link:

Circular of the State Council General Office on Promoting the Second Batch of Reform Initiatives in Support of Innovation (Guo Ban Fa No. 126 [2018])