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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, medical technology, big data and AI, robotics, new materials, microelectronics, and fintech, as well as other future-oriented cutting-edge science and technology fields.
3. Methods and Amounts of Support
3.1 The Eligibility criteria shall be limited to technology innovation platforms duly registered with the Shenzhen Park (“applicants”) or research organizations/R&D enterprises (“sponsors”) at home or abroad which have built technology innovation platforms in the Shenzhen Park.
3.2 Projects with a score of 60 or above in overall review shall be eligible for selection to be granted funding support at the rate of 20% of the total investment in the platform building, with the annual support amount capped at RMB 10 million for a period of no more than three (3) consecutive years. The government support funds shall be disbursed on a phase-by-phase basis and those for next phases shall be contingent on the results of phased performance appraisal. The amount of funding support may be adjusted depending on the results of project performance appraisal.
3.3 The supporting funds of government shall be used as project development expenditure and R&D expenditure, among others. With respect to specialized technological platforms, no less than 60% of the supporting funds shall be used as construction investment; no more than 20% shall be used as human resources expenditure as part of the R&D expenditure and no more than 10% as commissioned development expenditure. With regard to public service platforms, no less than 20% of the supporting funds shall be used as construction investment; no more than 40% shall be used as the human resources expenditure as part of the R&D expenditure; and no more than 10% shall be used as commissioned development expenditure.
4. Conditions for Application
4.1 Technology innovation platform development projects shall be required to meet the following conditions:
4.1.1 The platforms shall comply with the following requirements. The applicants may apply for either one (1) or a combination of the following platforms.
4.1.1.1 Specialized Technological Platforms
(a) Technological R&D platforms, which are organizations that provide such public services for enterprises as R&D of forward-looking, basic, key and common technologies, research of engineering technologies, etc. to sharpen enterprises’ ability to develop new products, technologies or processes, drive the technological transformation and upgrading, and enrich the technological content and added value of their products.
(b) Public inspection/testing service platforms, which are organizations that provide such public services for enterprises as conducting systematic, reliable inspection/testing, issuing inspection/testing reports with public credibility, and offering inspection/testing consulting services.
4.1.1.2 Public Service Platforms
(a) Public certification and registration service platforms, which are organizations that provide enterprises with domestic or foreign quality management systems, environmental or product certification services, product or trademark registration services or relevant technological consulting services.
(b) Public trading platforms, which are platforms that safeguard the security of trading for enterprises (e.g. various commodity exchanges, futures exchanges), organizations that provide stable, reliable and convenient e-commerce services (e.g. online transactions) or platforms that provide enterprises with technology transfer or research outcome commercialization services.
(c) Public information platforms, which are organizations that create repositories of resources such as technological information, patent information and technological standards repositories and provide data analysis, business consulting, market information, trade dispute pre-warning, legal, industrial and trade policy, marketing, and resources sharing services for enterprises.
4.1.2 The platform projects shall be of public service nature, formulate internal management measures or rules and regulations, and provide public, non-profit services for relevant industries. The services shall be of high quality, clearly defined, and charged on a preferential basis.
4.1.3 The platforms shall have reasonable organizational structure, sound management systems, and fixed offices, professional service teams, necessary instruments and equipment commensurate to the services to be provided in the Shenzhen Park. In addition, they shall be familiar with relevant industrial policies and enjoy considerably strong abilities to integrate resources and provide public services.
4.1.4 The total investment in the project shall be no less than RMB 20 million.
4.1.5 The projects shall have clearly positioned feasible plans or implementation schemes. The research content shall be able to promote the development of relevant industries to a considerably high degree. Furthermore, they shall put forward quantifiable overall objectives and key phased performance appraisal indicators, as well as clear, reasonable and measurable expected benefits or performance goals. Moreover, the technology outcomes (including self-developed intellectual properties, technologies digested, absorbed or innovated, or those jointly developed with foreign parties) they adopt shall be advanced in nature and of high value in application and promotion.
4.1.6 The projects are those involving key areas of development of the Shenzhen Park. Their key processes, including financial accounting, R&D, production and services, shall all be implemented in the Shenzhen Park. Once they are moved out of the park, the government supporting funds shall be returned in their entirety.
4.1.7 The projects’ implementation periods are generally no longer than three (3) years.
4.1.8 The applicants shall be required to have secured funds for projects. The total amount of 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 the self-owned funds and the funds already paid for the acquisition of new equipment shall not be lower than 30% 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 project applications and which is used for the projects can be recognized as newly acquired equipment. The applicants shall undertake to place such equipment in the Shenzhen Park.
4.1.9 For the part of projects supported by fiscal funds, the applicants shall be required to establish a resource sharing mechanism and make science and technology resources available to particular organizations and researchers.
4.1.10 The projects shall comply with the industrial policy, energy consumption, environmental protection, and safety requirements of the Shenzhen Park.
4.1.11 The applicants shall apply for the same projects only once on a yearly basis and shall not engage in concurrent or repeated applications for the same project. Once an applicant is found to engage in concurrent or repeated applications with respect to the same project, it shall be deprived of the eligibility to apply for all supported projects for a period of five (5) years, and its head and sponsor shall be entered on to the Shenzhen Park’s list of research integrity exceptions and subject to restrictions in applying for fiscal support.
4.1.12 The applicants shall satisfy other conditions prescribed in laws, regulations, bylaws or the normative documents issued by higher-level administrative departments.
4.2 The applicants for technology innovation platforms shall be required to meet the following conditions:
4.2.1 The applicants shall be domestic or overseas research organizations or R&D enterprises with clear positioning and specific objectives, and responsible for developing, operating and managing the project. They shall commit themselves to completing their registration in the Shenzhen Park, sign project contracts and initiate site renovation within three (3) months after finishing the project approval notification process.
4.2.2 The applicants shall have mature management and operation models for research organizations, and possess advanced, standardized management systems for talent teams, funds, assets, equipment, facilities, and public services, etc., and relatively strong material basis.
4.2.3 The applicants shall 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 therefore the ability to boost healthy, coordinated development in the area of research concerned. For the part of projects supported by fiscal funds, the applicants shall be required to establish a resource sharing mechanism and make science and technology resources available to particular organizations and researchers.
4.2.4 Should the applicants 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.
4.3 The applicants’ sponsors shall be required to meet the following conditions:
4.3.1 They shall be domestic or overseas research organizations or tech businesses with independent legal person status.
4.3.2 They shall have strong foundation in relevant areas of research, have conducted relevant research with high-level research outcomes, and hence be considerably influential or prestigious in relevant areas (Priorities shall be given to medium or large-sized R&D enterprises that are leaders in their industries in terms of products, technology or overall strength and cooperation between R&D enterprises and research organizations shall be encouraged). They shall have at least five (5) years’ experience in providing experiment/validation, measurement/testing, industrial information and intellectual property services 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. They shall also be required to be in good conditions in terms of operation and management and must have sizeable financial strength. In addition, they shall provide at least five (5) examples of the industry-education-research cooperation or research outcome commercialization (with relevant contracts/agreements attached).
4.3.2.2 Should they be enterprises, they shall in principle be required to be among the global top 500 enterprises, China’s top 500 enterprises, China’s top 500 manufacturing enterprises, China’s top 500 private enterprises, or on the Ministry of Science and Technology’s list of unicorn enterprises in China during 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. They shall have relatively ample research outcomes and strong commercialization capabilities, and no less than ten (10) intellectual property rights (patents, software copyrights, standards formulated, etc.) created in the past two (2) years (with the number of invention patents granted no less than four (4)).
4.3.3 They shall have leading service capabilities (with relevant contracts/agreements attached).
4.3.4 Should the sponsors or their legal representatives 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.
4.4 Teams willing to undertake the task of building technology innovation platforms shall be required to meet the following conditions:
4.4.1 The teams, including project heads and full-time researchers or technology service personnel, shall have the willingness to do research in the Shenzhen Park in a long-term and stable manner.
4.4.2The project shall have a workforce of no less than fifteen (15) people, including one (1) head, and no less than fifteen (15) full-time researchers and/or technology service personnel (those with a bachelor’s degree or higher or holding professional/technical ranks and titles at the intermediate level or over accounting for at least 70% of the total research workforce). The project heads shall undertake to dedicate no less than six (6) months of their full work time to the project in the Shenzhen Park and be physically present at the project site for no less than three (3) months on a yearly basis.
4.5 The heads willing to build technology innovation platforms shall be the applicants’ researchers or management personnel with advanced technical titles (or positions) or doctoral degrees, or if not, have the recommendation of two (2) scientific and technology personnel with advanced technical titles (positions) in the same areas of research as the heads. Moreover, they shall have fruitful academic or R&D outcomes and considerably great influence and prestige in relevant areas, and be supported by talent teams based on the renowned universities/colleges, research institutes, enterprises or social organizations they are affiliated with.
5. Application Materials
(the following materials excluding originals shall be affixed with official seals)
5.1 Feasibility Study Report
Outline of the Feasibility Study Report (including the table of contents and page numbers)
5.1.1 Project Profile (no more than 4,000 words): It shall include the name, legal person status, development strategies and operation plans of the applicant, the contents/size/place/time/conditions of platform building, the total investment, the total government subsidy sought, the economic and social benefits analyses of the platform to be built, etc.
5.1.2 Background and Significance of the Platform Building: They shall include the status of the industry, product and market development and the trends of technological development at home and abroad, the key links of industry chains and common technological issues, and the effects, implications and significance of the project to industry development and restructuring.
5.1.3 Key Development Orientations, Tasks and Objectives of the Platform: They shall include the development strategies and roadmaps, key orientations of development, main tasks, near-term and mid-term goals of the platform to be built.
5.1.4 Platform Building Plans: They shall include the main contents, size and place of platform building, the technology, equipment and engineering plans for research, testing and technological, information and certification services, the contents and rationality of services to be provided.
5.1.5 Implementation Progress and Management: They shall include the building period, implementation schedule, the in-progress management, etc.
5.1.6 Sponsor Profile: It shall include the nature, basic structure, financial and operational standing, existing technological conditions, work foundation and accomplishments of the sponsor, the situation of the sponsor offering public technological services or consulting services for enterprises in the industry concerned, research organizations or governments, and the contribution, influence and role of the sponsor in the development of the relevant industry, etc.
5.1.7 Applicant and Team Profiles: They shall include the setup and responsibilities of the platform, the operation and management mechanisms, technological foundation, talent teams of the applicant, etc.
5.1.8 Investment Estimate and Fundraising: They shall include the total investment estimate, the construction investment estimate, the yearly investment plans, the situation of project fundraising, etc. The total investment in a platform generally consists of the construction investment, R&D expenditure and initial working capital.
5.1.8.1 The construction investment shall mainly consist of the expenses in construction, installation, site renovation, equipment and tool acquisition expenses (including the expenditure for acquisition of necessary technologies and software and for the customization of specialized instruments/devices), etc.
5.1.8.2 The R&D expenditure shall consist of the expenditure for in-house development and the expenditure for commissioned development. The former primarily consists of the research materials and clerical expenses (including costs of materials, tests, assays and processing, as well as expenses in publishing, literature, information, and intellectual property affairs), the human resources expenses (including R&D personnel remuneration, 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 refer mainly to the expenses incurred in purchasing outsourced R&D services.
5.1.8.3 The initial working capital shall mainly include 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.
5.1.8.4 The government supporting funds use plan shall encompass a list of the key equipment, software, etc. to be acquired for the project (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.
5.1.9 Economic and Social Benefits Analyses: They shall include the income to be generated, the jobs to be added and the industry development to be driven by the platform.
5.1.10 Risk Analyses: They shall include the assessment of technological, market and capital risks for the platform, as well as the risk control measures.
5.1.11 Other Matters Requiring Explanations
5.2 Financial audit reports of the applicant or the sponsor for the past three (3) years (if the applicant has been in existence for less than three (3) years, then the reports for the period up to the present are required).
5.3 Certificates of self-owned funds issued by banks within three (3) months (originals).
5.4 Certificates of the advancedness of the technologies to be researched and reward documents, including the originality check report, the list of relevant papers (including such information as the journals where the papers were published), the product testing report, etc.
5.5 Materials evidencing the research and service capabilities
5.6 Information on the project development
5.7 Lists of existing instruments and devices owned by the project,
5.8 Lists of the newly acquired equipment and software
5.9 Certificates of expenditure for newly acquired equipment, including orders, invoices, bank transfer records, etc.
5.10 Certificates of qualifications for members of the applicant’s research team, including the degree/graduation certificates, and certificates of incumbency for one (1) head and at least ten (10) full-time researchers or technology service personnel
5.11 Letters of commitment to base at least one (1) head and fifteen (15) full-time researchers or technology service personnel in the Shenzhen Park prior to the commencement of the project as well as letters of commitment on the hours of work for the head
5.12 Letters of commitment to incorporate independent legal entities in the Shenzhen Park
5.13 Other attachments
6. Application and Approval Procedures
6.1 Application: All applicants engaging in the priority areas of research designated by the Shenzhen Park and willing to build technology innovation platforms 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 submitted and file those that are complete, standardized and in line with statutory forms. Applications that do not comply with requirements will be returned for corrections and may be filed later after they are corrected. Those ineligible shall be rejected.
6.3 Examination and Review: The Management Authority shall preliminarily examine the applications through internal meeting. Should an application be found incomplete or incorrect, the applicant shall be required to make additions or corrections. Afterwards, the Management Authority shall 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 plan based on the results of review by the project review organizations and approve the plan according to due procedures. Thereafter, the plan will be referred to the work 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: Projects approved shall be notified to the public in accordance with existing provisions. 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 December 11, 2020, for a period of one (1) year.