1.Time of Application

1.1 Applications shall be accepted throughout the year. 

2.Key Areas of Support

2.1 The key areas of support shall include six (6) scientific research fields, namely, medicaltechnology, bigdata and AI, robotics, newmaterials, microelectronics, and fintech, as well as other future-oriented cutting-edge science and technology. 

3.Methods and Amounts of Support

3.1 The Eligibility Criteria shall be limited to research organizations duly registered with the Shenzhen Park (“applicants”) or well-known or renowned research organizations/R&D enterprises (“sponsors”) at home or abroad which have built research organizations in the Shenzhen Park. 

3.2 Projects with a score of60 or above in overall review shall be eligible for selection to be granted funding support. The supporting funds granted by government to a project shall not exceed50% of the total investment in the project or the amount of RMB100 million. The organization building period shall include the preparatory period and the construction period. In particular, the preparatory period shall generally be one(1)year, with the prior supporting funds capped at RMB50 million. Once it passes the inspection for acceptance during the preparatory period, the project shall formally enter the construction period,which shall range from two (2) to four (4) years. The supporting funds for the next phase shall be contingent on the results of phased performance appraisal. Subject to the cap of the supporting funds, the amount of supporting funds may be adjusted depending on the results of performance appraisal. 

3.3 Thesupportingfunds ofgovernment shall be used as organization building expenditure and R&D expenditure, among others. Of thesupportingfunds allocated for the preparatory period, no less than70% shall be used as construction investment; no more than20% shall be used as human resources expenditure as part of the R&D expenditure; and no more than10% shall be used as commissioned development expenditure. Of the supporting funds allocated for the construction period, no less than20% shall be used as construction investment; no more than40% shall be used as the human resources expenditure as part of the R&D expenditure; and no more than10% shall be used as commissioned development expenditure.  

4.Conditions for Application

4.1 The international basic and applied basic research organizations shall refer to non-profit research organizations duly registered in the Shenzhen Park, tasked to conduct basic or applied basic research in the priority frontier areas and direction of research designated by the Shenzhen Park, and aim to grow into world-class research organizations. By recruiting internationally influential scientists and training outstanding young researchers, they are expected to create an echelon of talents with abilities to carry out original innovations, to enhance interdisciplinary integration and international scientific and technological exchange and cooperation on multiple levels, in all respects and of high quality, and to establish an operating model with international participants, modernized management systems and flexible operating mechanisms, thus consolidating the foundation for tech research, improving the quality of tech innovation and undertaking important science and technology development missions. 

4.2 The applicants shall be required to meet the following conditions: 

4.2.1 The basic and applied basic research organizations shall be non-profit research organizations with clear positioning, specific objectives and forward-looking and characteristic research activities. They shallcommit themselves to completing their registration in the Shenzhen Park, signing project contracts and initiating site renovation within three(3) months after finishing the project approval notification process. 

4.2.2 The applicants shall be required to have a mature management and operation models for research organizations, and possess advanced, standardized management systems for talent teams, research projects, funds, assets, equipment, and facilities, etc., and relatively strong material basis. 

4.2.3 The applicants shall be required to have the ability to integrate research strengths in relevant areas and the willingness to share resources with others, the ability to coordinate and organize researchers from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the international community and the Chinese mainland to conduct joint research, and hence the ability to boost healthy, coordinated development in the area of research concerned. For the part of the projects supported by fiscal funds, the applicants shall establish a resource sharing mechanism and make science and technology resources available to particular organizations and researchers.  

4.2.4 The applicants shall be required to have secured funds for organization building. The total amount of project funds to be raised by the applicants themselves shall be no more than the sum of self-owned funds (including bank deposits and wealth management products), the loans banks promise to grant, bank loans, credit lines offered by banks, and the funds already paid for the acquisition of new equipment, etc. In particular, the sum of self-owned funds and the funds already paid for the acquisition of new equipment shall not be less than30% of the total investment in a project. A piece of equipment of which the order is placed no longer than three(3)months ahead of the date of finalization of the organization building feasibility study report and which is used for the organization building purpose can be recognized as newly acquired equipment. The applicants shall undertake to place such equipment in the Shenzhen Park. 

4.2.5 In principle, the applicantsshallhave not yet received any funds from the national, provincial or municipal governments.  

4.3 Thesponsors shall be required to meet the following conditions:

4.3.1 They shall be domestic or overseas research organizations or R&D enterprises with independent legal person status. 

4.3.2 They shall have strong foundation in particular areas of research, have conducted relevant researchwith high-level research outcomes, and hence be considerably influential or prestigious in relevant areas. 

4.3.2.1 In case where they are research organizations, they shall in principle be required to have professional technology and management teams, considerably high-level R&D outcomes and technology strength, and relatively strong technology development and project implementation capabilities. Meanwhile, they shall also be required to be in good conditions in terms of operation and management and must have sizeable financial strength. 

4.3.2.2 Should they betheenterprises, they shall in principle be required to be among the globaltop500 enterprises, China’s top500 enterprises, China’s top500 manufacturing enterprises, China’s top500 private enterprises, or on the Ministry of Science and Technology’s list of unicorn enterprises in China in the past five (5) years. Alternatively, they must be domestic or overseas well-known enterprises in their industries or technology enterprises possessing core R&D technologies and capable of creating considerably high-tech barriers against their competitors. 

4.3.3 In case where their sponsors or their legal representatives have research integrity violations, they shall be entered on to the Shenzhen Park’s list of research integrity exceptions and subject to relevant restrictions in applying for fiscal support. 

4.4 The heads and teams of the applicants shall be required to meet the following conditions: 

4.4.1 The applicant shall have a workforce of no less thanforty (40) people, including one (1) head, no less thanfifteen (15) core members, and no less thantwenty-five (25) full-time researchers and/or technology service personnel. The head shall undertake to dedicate no less than six (6) months of their full work time to the organization registered in the Shenzhen Park and must be actually present at the organization for no less than three (3) months on a yearly basis. The core members shall promise to spend no less thanten (10) person-years working in the Cooperation Zone. 

4.4.2 The applicant’s heads shall have good moral and professional ethics, fruitful achievements in relevant areas of research, and experience of serving as the subject lead or senior executive in well-known universities/colleges or research organizations or flagship enterprises at home or abroad. Also, he/she should be quite influential in the academic circle or industry concerned and still active on the forefront of research work.  

4.4.3 The applicant’s core members shall be senior R&D personnel with advanced technical titles (or positions) or doctoral degrees, or with distinguished academic or R&D outcomes in relevant areas of research, and must have the willingness to carry out research in the Shenzhen Park in a long-term and stable manner. 

4.4.4 The research teamshall have the ability to gather and integrate research resources in relevant areas to build world-class research organizations and the rich experience and ability required to organize research projects, operate and manage research organizations, and engage in the industry-education-research cooperation. 

4.4.5 Should thehead or team members violate research integrity, they shall be entered on to the Shenzhen Park’s list of research integrity exceptions and subject to relevant restrictions in applying for fiscal support.

5.Application Materials 

(the following materials excluding originals shall be affixed with official seals)

5.1 Organization Building Feasibility Study Report

Outline of the Organization Building Feasibility Study Report (including the table of contents and page numbers)

5.1.1Organization Profile (no more than4,000 words): Itshall include the name, legal person status, key areas of research, technology foundation, operation model, organization building conditions, total investment, and total government subsidy already sought by the applicant.

5.1.2 Research Content and Expected Goals of the Organization: It shall include the overall goals, organization building activities, key research areas, key scientific and technological issues to be addressed, work progress and milestones, phased performance appraisal indicators and completion acceptance criteria.

5.1.3 Organizational Structure, Operation and Management of the Organization: It shall include the organizational structure of the applicant, the investment mechanism and operation model, the investment estimates and spatial needs, the recruitment and mobility of personnel, the use and management of research instruments, the management of intellectual property, etc.

5.1.4 Information on the Sponsor and Team

5.1.4.1 Should the sponsor be a research organization, the information shall include the organizational structure, management model, talent team and technology foundation.

5.1.4.2 If the sponsor is an enterprise, the information must include the ownership nature, equity structure, shareholders’ profile, organizational structure, financial conditions in the past three(3)years, principal operations, main business, development planning and strategies, talent teams, technology foundation.

5.1.5 Information on Conditions for the Organization Building: Itshall include the contents and results of previously conducted research, the established conditions for research (talent teams, basic data, experimental conditions, domestic and international cooperation, etc.), the national, provincial or municipal science and technology projects undertaken by the sponsor and the applicant in the past three (3) years as well as their completion status.

5.1.6 Investment Estimates and Fundraising: It shall include the total investment estimate, the construction investment estimate, the yearly investment plan, the situation of fundraising, the government subsidy use plan, etc. The total investment generally consists of the construction investment, R&D expenditure, and initial working capital.

5.1.6.1 The construction investment shall mainly consist of the expenses in construction, installation, site renovation, equipment and tool acquisition (including the expenditure for acquisition of necessary technologies and software and for the customization of specialized instruments/devices), etc.

5.1.6.2 The R&D expenditure shall consist of the expenditure for in-house development and the expenditure for commissioned development. The former shall primarily consist of the research materials and clerical expenses (including costs of materials, tests, assessment and processing, as well as expenses in publishing, literature, information, and intellectual property affairs), the human resources expenses (including R&D personnelremuneration, service fees, and consulting fees paid to experts), and other expenses (including the costs of travels, conferences, international cooperation and exchange, performance bonus, and management fees). The latter shall mainly refer to the expenses incurred in purchasing outsourced R&D services.

5.1.6.3 The initial working capital shall mainly encompass the fuel and power cost, the raw materials cost, the site rental, the basic reserve funds, the interest accrued during the implementation of the project, etc.  

5.1.6.4 The government supporting funds plan shall encompass a list of the key equipment, software, etc. to be acquired for the organization building (the types, quantities, reference unit prices of the equipment, whether or not it has been acquired, whether or not the fiscal subsidies have been used to acquire the equipment, etc.), the human resources expenses, the working capital, etc.

5.1.7 Implementation Progress and Management: It shall consist of the construction period, implementation schedule, the in-progress management, etc.

5.1.8 Economic and Social Benefits Analyses: It shall include the income to be generated, the jobs to be added and the industry development to be driven by the organization.

5.1.9 Risk Analyses: It shall include the technological, market and capital risks for the organization to be built, as well as the risk control measures.

5.1.10 Other Matters Requiring Explanations

5.2 Financial Audit Reports of the sponsor for the past three (3) years (in case where the sponsor has been in existence for less than three (3) years, then the reports for the period up to the present shall be required).

5.3 Certificates of Self-owned funds (including the certificates of deposit and wealth management products held, etc.), certificates of loans, loan commitments, certificates of credit lines issued by banks within three (3) months (originals).

5.4 Certificates proving how leading the technologies to be researched are and awards received, including the originality check report, the list of relevant patents and papers (including such information as the number of patents granted and the journals where the papers were published), the product testing report, etc.

5.5 Information on organization building

5.6 Lists of existing instruments and devices owned by the applicant, and a letter of commitment to move all the equipment on the list into the Shenzhen Park once the organization is founded.

5.7 Certificates of expenditure for newly acquired equipment, including orders, invoices, bank transfer records, etc. 

5.8 Lists of newly acquired equipment and software.

5.9 Certificates of qualifications for members of the applicant’s research team, including the degree/graduation certificates, certificates of incumbency, and other credentials for one(1)head, at least eight(8)core members and at leasttwelve (12) full-time researchers or technology service personnel.

5.10 Letters of commitment to base one (1) head, at leastfifteen (15) core members and no less thantwenty-five (25) full-time researchers or technology service personnel in the Shenzhen Park during the preparatory period of the organization building process as well as letters of commitment on the hours of work for the above-mentioned personnel 

5.11 Letters of commitment to incorporate independent legal entities in the Shenzhen Park

5.12 Other materials 

6.Application and Approval Procedures

6.1 Application: All entities engaging in the priority areas of research designated by the Shenzhen Park and willing to buildbasic orappliedbasicresearch organizations shall be eligible to apply to the Management Authority by submitting the required application materials.

6.2 Acceptance: The acceptance personnel shall be responsible to verify the application materials and file those that are complete, standardized and in line with statutory forms. Applications that do not comply with requirements shall be returned for corrections and may be filed later after the necessary corrections are made. Those ineligible shall be rejected.

6.3 Examination and Review: The Management Authority shall be responsible to preliminarily examine the applications through internal meeting. Should an application be found incomplete or incorrect, the applicant shall be requested to make additions or corrections as necessary. The Management Authority shall afterwards organize project review organizations to review the applications and issue expert opinions and review reports accordingly. 

6.4 Approval: The Management Authority shall be responsible to draft a proposed support program based on the results of review by the project review organizations and approve the plan in accordance with due procedures. Thereafter, the plan shall be referred to the Working Meeting of the Shenzhen Steering Group Office for Development of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone for deliberation and approval. 

6.5 Finalization: The public shall be duly notified according to provisions on projects approved. Regarding those without objections or with objections that have been resolved during the period of notification, the Management Authority shall issue the corresponding applicants a Notice of Project Approval; for those disapproved, it shall issue the corresponding applicants a Notice of Project Rejection. 

7.Others

7.1 These guidelines shall be effective as of December11,2020, for a period of one (1) year.