SZ advances in financial city ranking

03-19, 2021

Shenzhen advanced one leg up to No. 8 of the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI) 29 ranking. The ranking was released Wednesday by Z/Yen Group in partnership with the China Development Institute (CDI). Out of 114 financial centers in the list, four are Chinese cities and all are in the top 10.The index looks at 143 instrumental factors provided by third parties such as the World Bank, the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations.It was made based on 65,507 assessments of financial centers provided by 10,774 respondents to the GFCI online questionnaire.The latest edition evaluated and ranked the world's major financial centers in terms of business environment, human resources, infrastructure, financial industry level, and prestige.New York, London and Shanghai took the top three spots, while Hong Kong moved up a spot to fourth. Singapore is in fifth, while Tokyo dropped three places down from fourth to seventh. Frankfurt replaced San Francisco by climbing up seven places into the top 10.Shenzhen ranked fourth in terms of financial industry development level, following New York, London and Singapore."Shenzhen moves up due to its comprehensive competitiveness and development," Yu Lingqu, vice director of the CDI Finance and Modern Industry Research Institute, said. He suggested Shenzhen should enhance its synergy of regional cooperation and utilize its advantages in finance and technology.Wang Shuxun, head of the Finance Department of the School of Business of Southern University of Science and Technology, thought financial innovation lies in aiding the development of the real economy. Shenzhen's global financial influence will be stronger if it utilizes the advantages of institutional innovation and steadily moves ahead step by step.

City releases regulation to boost foreign investment

03-16, 2021

Shenzhen is mulling to build a mechanism for urgently needed talent, according to a draft foreign investment regulation recently released by the Municipal Justice Bureau for public opinion.The regulation also said that Shenzhen will streamline procedures for foreign talents to live and work in Shenzhen and issue measures like faster entry in the country to support foreign-funded enterprises. These will make the city more attractive to these talents.To boost foreign investment, Shenzhen will update plans based on its own situations and let foreign companies enjoy the same support policies designed for local companies.At the same time, Shenzhen will promote the building of foreign-related public legal service system.The regulation includes a total of five chapters, with contents concerning investment promotion, protection and management.

Measures to promote science research

03-05, 2021

The Shenzhen Municipal Government recently announced measures to improve the whole chain of the application process of scientific and technological outcomes to production, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.In the innovation aspect, no lower than 30 percent of the city-level R&D funds are expected to be allocated for basic research and applied basic research, particularly those that attempt to solve cutting-edge problems in science and long-term, high-risk original research. The core scientific fields include integrated circuits, 5G, intelligent connected vehicles, ultra-high-definition displays, biomedicine, industrial Internet, artificial intelligence, grapheme and so on. The measures also support enterprises to set up joint and offshore laboratories with domestic and foreign universities and research institutions.In the application aspect, the measures encourage universities and research institutions to explore a new operation mechanism in partnership with enterprises. This will help prove technical concepts and commercialize laboratory achievements. Shenzhen National High-tech Zone will practice this kind of mechanism.Technology transfer organizations (TTO) will be introduced and established in Shenzhen. The newly recognized country-, province- and city-level TTO will be subsidized according to regulations. A national trading platform for intellectual property (IP) and scientific and technological achievement is expected to be set up.Small- and medium-sized enterprises and maker teams can apply for science and technology innovation vouchers every year.In a bid to guarantee the industrialization of research outcomes, the measures say a mechanism will be established to exempt those who have diligently fulfilled their duties from liabilities. Researchers, who strictly implement management systems and receive no illegal interests, will be exempt from liabilities, such as errors in the pricing of scientific and technological achievements. Asset management companies under universities and research institutions, which have diligently fulfilled their duties but caused investment losses, will be exempt from completing the write-off procedures for loss-making assets with relevant departments' approval.

Huawei tops global list of patent applications

03-04, 2021

Shenzhen-based telecom giant Huawei Technologies topped the global list of patent applications in 2020 with 5,464 published applications, according to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Tuesday.It was followed by South Korea's Samsung Electronics with 3,093 applications, Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. with 2,810 applications, South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. with 2,759 applications and the U.S.'s Qualcomm Inc. with 2,173 applications.In terms of education institutions, Shenzhen University took third place with 252 applications. It was the third consecutive year for the university to enter the top three, following the University of California and MIT. Tsinghua and Zhejiang universities took fourth and fifth places with 231 and 209 applications, respectively. Among top 10 universities, five come from China, four from the U.S. and one from Japan, according to the report.WIPO data shows Huawei has been ranked first in the number of patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from enterprises worldwide for four consecutive years since 2017.Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, WIPO received a record of 275,900 applications in 2020, up by 4 percent over the previous year.China remained the top PCT user with 68,720 applications for 16.1 percent year-on-year growth in 2020. In 2019, China filed 59,193 PCT applications.Other top users of the PCT system in 2020 were the U.S. with 59,230 applications, Japan with 50,520 applications, South Korea with 20,060 applications and Germany with 18,643 applications.It is reported that 12 Chinese companies, including six from Shenzhen, entered the top 50 Global PCT patent applications in 2020. They are Huawei (1st), ZTE (16th), Ping An Technology Shenzhen Co. Ltd. (17th), DJI (21st), China Star Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. (24th) and HKC Co. Ltd. (35th).According to WIPO data, the applications in the computer technology sector took up 9.2 percent of the published PCT applications, and it is followed by digital communications (8.3 percent), medical technologies (6.6 percent), electrical machinery (6.6 percent) and measurement (4.8 percent).Among the top 10 technologies, the PCT applications of audiovisual technologies increased by 29.5 percent, which is followed by digital communications for 15.8 percent year-on-year growth and measurement for 10.9 percent year-on-year growth.

Huawei among top 100 innovative organizations

03-03, 2021

Two Shenzhen-based companies, Tencent and Huawei, were on the list of the recently released Clarivate Top 100 Global Innovators 2021.It is the sixth time for Huawei to be among the top 100 innovative organizations and the second time for Tencent.

Huawei unveils 5G-powered factory in southern China

02-25, 2021

Shenzhen-based tech giant Huawei unveiled its 5G-powered factory in South China at the opening ceremony of the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021 (MWCS2021) on Tuesday.Benefiting from advanced technologies like 5G, this factory will be a smart plant with many benefits. The smart plant is able to reduce over 80 percent of labor force, boost the overall productivity by 300 percent and have quality checks finished in six seconds.According to a presentation about the plant, few people are seen working on Huawei's 130-meter mobile phone production line.Moreover, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) were seen delivering goods at the factory.It is said that over 500 factory equipment has been connected to the 5G network, enabling a real-time data exchange among them.In addition, 5G and artificial intelligence can help increase product quality.In the past, manual work takes at least two to three minutes to check up around 2,500 items on a hand-sized circuit board. At present, an automatic check on a circuit board takes only six seconds, with a product yield reaching 99.55 percent.Hu Houkun, deputy chairman of Huawei, said during a keynote speech at the opening ceremony that the pandemic will speed up the digital transformation of industries and bring in more demand to build digital infrastructures.Against this background, 5G and other technological innovations will build more solid digital infrastructures to add new value to business, life and society."Through our practices, we make full use of the 5G technology to achieve 800 Mbps of upload speed. In the future, the speed will reach 6 Gbps. We will also build Huawei cloud AI training platform. All these will make our production lines smarter and more efficient," said Hu.It is expected that 97 percent of big global companies will deploy artificial intelligence. Some 55 percent of China's GDP will be driven by the digital economy, said Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.Huawei also officially released its 5GtoB solution recently which is aimed at creating new value for every player across the industry value chain.This solution will simplify transactions for enterprise users, help operators monetize their network capabilities, and allow partners to innovate more efficiently, creating new value for every player involved, according to information released by Huawei.

City to give MNCs up to ¥6m for setting up regional headquarters

02-24, 2021

Shenzhen has introduced a spate of measures to encourage multinational companies (MNCs) to establish regional headquarters and organizations with headquarters functions in the city, according to the latest government gazette issued Monday.The measures, which highlight a tiered reward system with a maximum reward of 6 million yuan (US$928,000), will become effective March 1.The measures have made detailed provisions on the definition and identification standards of MNC regional headquarters.MNC regional headquarters refer to the only head office set up in Shenzhen by a parent company registered offshore by way of investment or authorization, with the headquarters performing the functions of management and services provision for enterprises in more than one country (or region), as per the measures.MNCs may establish regional headquarters in the form of enterprise with independent legal person status such as wholly owned investment-type or management-type company.An organization with headquarters functions in an MNC refers to a foreign-invested enterprise (including a branch) that do not fall under the standards of regional headquarters of MNCs and actually undertakes the functions of expanding R&D, sales, trade, settlement and data of an overseas-based parent company in more than one country (or region).Qualified regional headquarters and organizations with headquarters functions established by MNCs will be recognized by the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau and issued with certificates.The recognized headquarters firms of MNCs will be rewarded based on a tiered reward system.According to the measures, firms registering US$20-30 million, US$30-50 million and above US$50 million in annual actual use of foreign capital will be rewarded 3 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 6 million yuan, respectively.The firms shall continue to meet the recognition conditions of headquarters enterprises within five years after obtaining the cash reward.Shenzhen will also launch a package of incentives including preferential policies for R&D, simplified entry-exit procedures, talent introduction, staff training, and more convenient trade and supervision measures.Shenzhen has long been a magnet for foreign investment. In 2020, the city's actual use of foreign capital exceeded US$8.6 billion, representing about 6 percent of the actual amount of foreign capital utilized in China, official data showed.It is home to nearly 300 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, according to the local commerce bureau.

Private firms, SME support program released

02-23, 2021

The Shenzhen Municipal Government has recently decided to implement the 2022 Private and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises Innovation and Development Support Program to financially support these companies' growth, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.The Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau released application guidelines for the support program. The significant grants will target the restructuring, IPO (initial public offering) and financing guarantees of private and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). They include a subsidy for the restructuring and IPO training, and a subsidy for loan guarantee costs.The amounts of subsidies will be subject to the maximum limit of the fund for annual grants as well as the results of special audits.Companies that plan to issue IPOs on the Chinese mainland and have completed the stock-into-market tutorship will be subsidized at up to 1.5 million yuan (US$232,000).Companies that plan to issue IPOs on overseas securities markets will be given a grant of up to 800,000 yuan.Companies that have been newly listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ, or the New Third Board) will receive a subsidy of a maximum of 500,000 yuan.Those selected into the "innovation level" of the NEEQ will be rewarded with an extra incentive, which is up to 300,000 yuan. High-end listed companies from other regions that move into Shenzhen will be funded up to 5 million yuan.Listed companies from other regions restructured by local firms under market operation principles and transfer their registration to Shenzhen will be given incentives with a maximum of 5 million yuan.The subsidies for loan guarantee are aimed at encouraging these companies to obtain bank loans via financial guarantee institutions.For these enterprises, bank loans with a guaranteed amount of 5 million yuan or below will have the guarantee fee fully subsidized. Loans with a single guaranteed amount between 5 to 8 million yuan (inclusive) will be covered at up to 80 percent of the actual guarantee fee. The maximum annual subsidy for an enterprise shall not exceed 300,000 yuan.

Huawei, Foxconn, Tencent make national industrial Internet list

02-09, 2021

Three industrial Internet platforms in Shenzhen, namely FusionPlant of Huawei Technologies, Fii Cloud of Foxconn and WeMake of Tencent, have been listed on the 2020 cross-boundary industrial Internet platforms accredited by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.The ministry selected 15 cross-boundary industrial Internet platforms in the country through self-application, recommendations, expert reviews and online publicity.It is the second year for Huawei and Foxconn to be selected for the list.The Huawei Cloud FusionPlant platform applied algorithms to wood cutting in the process of furniture manufacturing and improved its utilization rate. Taking Oppein as an example, the new technique can save costs of 40 million yuan (US$6.18 million) for the company.Based on technologies like IoT, cloud computing, AI and big data, WeMake provides solutions for six different scenarios including connectivity, intelligent systems, WeChat, marketing and credit safety for industrial enterprises.Fii Cloud, as one of the 10 biggest cross-boundary industrial Internet platforms in China, is an extension of the BEACON industrial Internet platform.Fii is one of the world's leading professional design and manufacturing service providers for communication network equipment, cloud service equipment, precision tools, industrial robots, AI and machine leaning. It is dedicated to building a new ecosystem of AI-driven "advanced manufacturing + industrial Internet," with technological platforms centered on cloud computing, mobile terminals, the Industrial Internet of Things, big data analytics, AI, high-speed networks and robotics.