City to promote foreign investment

07-23, 2020

Shenzhen recently released a series of measures to promote high-quality development of foreign investments to help foreign businesses get through this challenging time, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.To improve services, Shenzhen will formulate a comprehensive service mechanism to maintain communications with foreign businesses and understand their difficulties in resuming businesses.With the mechanism, the city will be able to understand foreign-funded enterprises' basic information including the progress on returning to work, rate of employee return, capacity utilization and turnover.In terms of level of openness, Shenzhen will protect foreign-funded businesses' rights and strictly implement the negative list for foreign investment projects.Efforts will be made to attract more foreign investment to fields such as advanced manufacturing, emerging industries and cutting-edge technologies.In addition, foreign-invested companies will be encouraged to participate in government procurements in a fair way. Channels will be opened for suppliers to address complaints and issues.Concerning business operation, Shenzhen will help foreign-funded businesses to apply for financial support and encourage districts to release more preferential policies on top of the provincial and municipal policies.Property owners are advised to reduce rents for foreign-funded enterprises. Financial institutions are encouraged to provide more loans and credits.At the same time, the city will take further measures to make foreign investment more free and convenient in the city. Efforts will also be made to reduce costs for foreign-invested companies.In addition, Shenzhen will continue finding ways to improve the investment environment.Commerce authorities at both municipal and district levels will work to make regulations on protecting foreign investment, make it easier for foreign-invested enterprises to lodge a complaint and improve intellectual property protection.

SZ releases policy to support scientific research

07-15, 2020

The Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission has recently unveiled a supportive policy for the construction of major scientific research platforms in the city, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.The policy will focus on supporting technology foresight, principle exploration, concept verification, key technology research, equipment R&D and engineering verification in the early stages of building major scientific research platforms, as well as the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and project management.Major scientific research platforms include platforms related to major sci-tech infrastructure and frontier research.The policy proposes to focus on the fields of information, materials and life science and technology, and predict key and disruptive technologies that will lead to future economic and social development in light of the foundation and needs of local industries.In terms of system promotion technology research and equipment R&D, an eligible project will receive government funding of up to 200 million yuan (US$28.5 million), according to the policy.In another development, the city will also subsidize the establishment of city-level key laboratories, according to the newspaper.The city's science, technology and innovation commission has released guidelines for the application of setting up such laboratories. Applicants can log onto https://sticapply.sz.gov.cn/ to apply online until Aug. 10.According to the guidelines, the number of the newly built city-level key laboratories will be capped at 15 for 2021. Laboratories will be funded to carry out basic research and applied basic research, skilled talent training, industrial development and social development.The laboratories should focus on such fields as new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, digital economy, new materials, new energy and marine economy.The maximum government funding for the preparations of setting up a city-level key laboratory will be 5 million yuan, and the amount of funding for labs operated by firms will be no higher than 50 percent of the total project budget.Applicants shall be institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutions or other legal entities with original innovation ability that have legally registered in Shenzhen and Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone.

Huawei owns over 85,000 patents

07-10, 2020

Huawei, a Shenzhen-based global leading provider of information and communication technology, had more than 85,000 valid patents as of Dec. 31 last year, making it one of the companies with the greatest number of patents in the world, according to the company's 2019 Sustainability Report released Tuesday.More than 30,000 patents were approved by China while the rest, greater than 50,000, were approved by foreign countries. More than 90 percent of the patents are invention patents.The report explains the progress Huawei made last year from four aspects: digital inclusion, security and trustworthiness, environmental protection and healthy and harmonious ecosystem.In 2019, Huawei maintained network availability during more than 200 major events and natural disasters."Over the past year, we faced challenges the likes of which we have never seen. And we stood strong," said Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei."We have worked day and night to patch the holes and overcome the difficulties in this beleaguered business of ours, ensuring business continuity and the timely delivery of products and services to our customers. We have helped roll out networks worth hundreds of billions of dollars in more than 170 countries," added Liang.Huawei also added more resources to enhance 5G security. Last year, Huawei provided 385 proposals on network security to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), accounting for over 24 percent of the total network security proposals. 3GPP is a collaborative project aimed at developing globally acceptable specifications for mobile systems.Working towards emissions reduction, the energy efficiency of Huawei's main products were improved by up to 22 percent.In 2019, Huawei used 1.25 billion kWh of clean energy, which is equivalent to reducing 570,000 tons of CO2.To contribute to a recycling economy, Huawei is committed to maximizing the utilization of resources throughout the product lifecycle. For example, 86 percent of the products returned to the company were reused, and only 1.24 percent of its e-waste was landfilled.Additionally, Huawei applied smart solutions to reduce energy consumption. The B zone of Huawei's Bantian Base in Longgang District reduced 1.4 million kWh of electricity consumption during the second half of last year.Huawei had a total of 194,000 employees from 157 countries and regions, as of Dec. 31 last year.

City to encourage innovation of researchers

07-01, 2020

Research scientists can receive benefits and rewards prior to the industrialization of their research achievements instead of after the transformation, according to a draft regulation on science and technology innovation handed to city's lawmakers for review recently.The benefit of the draft clause is twofold, to encourage research towards invention and to create quality scientific achievements with bright market prospects, and to mobilize the enthusiasm of researchers in their achievement of commercialization and industrialization.The researcher or research team, in higher learning institutions and research institutes who engages research and are financed by the government can either own at least 70 percent of the proprietary rights of research results or at least 10 years of the rights to use the research results.As the researchers had gained benefits prior to commercialization or industrialization of their research achievements, the institutions they are working at do not have to repeatedly offer benefits after industrialization of their research achievements are realized, according to the draft.Enterprises that support basic research through donations and setting up foundations can enjoy preferential policies in line with the rules of philanthropic donations.At the meeting of the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress which ended Monday, lawmakers also reviewed a report on improving the city's social aid system, improving aid to vagrants and beggars, implementing social security guarantees to disadvantaged groups, enhancing construction of social aid capability and improving social aid facilities.The first-time reading of the report also suggests establishing a temporary fostering system for juniors and underage people who are in perilous positions of being orphaned or having no actual guardians.

City's exports up in May despite pandemic

06-29, 2020

Shenzhen's exports in May increased by 14.3 percent year on year to reach 149.9 billion yuan (US$21.4 billion) despite the backdrop of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to Shenzhen Customs yesterday.Increasing exports of medical materials were the main reason behind the growth, official statistics released by the customs yesterday showed.Also in May, the city's imports grew by 6.9 percent to hit 105.4 billion yuan year on year and the total trade volume was up 11.2 percent to 255.4 billion yuan.Trade in May kept upward momentum from April, indicating further recovery with the resumption of work and production in the electronics industry that has stimulated exports of related products.In the first five months, the city's general trade kept positive growth and acceleration for three straight months. The general trade hit 548.36 billion yuan.Between January and May, Shenzhen's trade with ASEAN countries increased by 14.2 percent, thanks to the import increase in fruits and electronic components.The import and export trade of local private enterprises increased by 3.4 percent to 662.8 billion yuan in the first five months. In May alone, the figure increased 21.9 percent, 7 percentage points higher than the growth in April.Imports of electronic components and people's daily commodities increased sharply, the statistics showed.Meanwhile, China's exports declined in May, with experts predicting that shipments would continue to decline in coming months until the virus is brought under control and the global economy gets back on its feet.Overseas shipments fell by 3.3 percent in the month compared with a year earlier, following a surprise growth of 3.5 percent in April.The better-than-expected figure was due largely to continued strong exports of medical equipment and supplies used in fighting the coronavirus.Exports of medical equipment and instruments rose 89 percent in May from a year earlier, and shipments of textiles, yarns and fabrics (including masks) rose 77 percent, while exports of plastics (including medical protection equipment) increased 54 percent, noted Shen Jianguang, chief economist of JD Digits, the fintech arm of e-commerce firm JD.com.The outlook for Chinese exports in June and the second half of the year will depend on the development of the pandemic and the speed of the global economic recovery, Shen said.The demand recovery will lag that of supply, so Chinese exports will face greater pressure in the coming months.May's export dip was telegraphed by persistently low sentiment among exporters that showed up in official and private surveys of factory owners.The new export orders component of the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 35.3 for May, following a 33.5 reading in April. A number below 50 signifies contraction, the further below 50, the worse the mood among producers.

Subsidies available to aid emerging industries

06-23, 2020

Shenzhen-based enterprises and projects from emerging industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, new materials, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) can receive subsidies, according to the city's industry and information technology bureau.The subsidies are drafted to support projects in four aspects, specifically supply chain promotion projects, industrial service system projects, market access projects and national and provincial supporting projects, according to staff with the Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau.The subsidies will all be issued after the conclusion of each project, according to the plan on supporting emerging industries released by the city.The subsidies for supply chain projects in industries including high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, AI and IoT is set at 20 percent of the project cost confirmed by audit agencies, with the highest amount of 3 million yuan (US$423,974) for each project.The subsidies for new material industry's supply chain promotion projects will be mainly provided for testing fees on new products and technologies, which totals 30 percent of the testing-related fees determined by audit agencies.Each project can receive 3 million yuan at most. The subsidy limit for each company is 5 million yuan with no more than three materials receiving subsidies.For industrial services, 50 percent of the fees on public service projects will be subsidized, with the highest amount set at 3 million yuan.Forums and conferences, held in the city and organized on behalf of the municipal government, will be sponsored, but capped, at 3 million yuan.For those held on behalf of social organizations (firms in exhibition industry excluded), a subsidy worth 50 percent of the project fees will be issued, also with the maximum amount of 3 million yuan.Projects concerning market access, which have been recognized by international or national authorities, will be subsidized 50 percent of the project fees, capped at 1 million yuan and 500,000 yuan, respectively.Additionally, each firm can receive a maximum of 5 million yuan in subsidies each year.National and provincial supporting projects will be subsidized with the same amount of subsidies provided by the Central or provincial government, with the highest amount of 15 million yuan for each project. At the same time, the total amount of the subsidies and other funds received from the country, province and the city should be no more than 40 percent of the projects' total investment.

Strategic emerging industries, SZ's driving force

06-19, 2020

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. To mark the occasion, we are publishing a series of reports celebrating the city's achievements in different aspects over the past four decades.THE industrial added value of strategic emerging industries in Shenzhen reached 1.01 trillion yuan (US$142 billion) in 2019, an 8.8 percent increase year on year, and weighing 37.7 percent of GDP, a report of Shenzhen Economic Daily said Thursday.Strategic emerging industries mainly comprise new-generation information technologies, digital economy, high-end equipment manufacturing, low carbon, marine economy, new materials and biopharmacy.In the early 1990s, Shenzhen designated high-tech, logistics, finance and culture as its four pillar industries. After the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, the city planned a layout of newly emerged, strategic industries. The city took initiatives for the development of biology, new energy and Internet in 2009 and then added new materials, culture and creation, new-generation information and technology, and energy conservation to its list of priority for development in 2011.Starting from 2013, the list was further extended to marine economy, space and aviation, health, robotics, wearables and intelligent equipment.For development of newly emerged industries and future industries, the city set aside, in a special fund, 5 billion yuan a year to support enterprises and institutions to engage in technological innovation and science achievement commercialization.

SZ ranks 3rd in business environment

06-19, 2020

Shenzhen is ranked third in urban business environment among Chinese cities in 2019, following Beijing and Shanghai, according to a report released by State media China Central Television (CCTV) on Thursday.As for the remaining top 10, Shenzhen is followed by Guangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin and Ningbo.The CCTV report took the international and World Bank standards as benchmarks and evaluated the business environment of Chinese cities through a wide range of indicators for the difficulty of starting and running a business.It surveyed four municipalities directly under the Central Government, 27 capital cities in provinces and autonomous regions and five specially designated cities in the State plan.The latest version of the report also evaluated the business environment of 100 Chinese cities with the most active economic activity.The top 10 cities are Suzhou, Nantong, Yantai, Wuxi, Dongguan, Shaoxing, Wenzhou, Weifang, Jinhua as well as Zhuhai.According to the theoretical framework of "element + environment," the report uses an evaluation system composed of five dimensions, including infrastructure, human resources, financial services, government administration and inclusive innovation.The report also released five sub-rankings that cover the key links affecting the running of a business, such as system, market, resources, technology, talented staff and capital.Both the 2018 and 2019 versions of the report show that China has made some of the biggest strides among the world's economies in improving its business environment over the past two years.

Underground 5G

06-19, 2020

Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies, in partnership with China Mobile, worked with Yangquan Coal Industry Co. Ltd. in Shanxi Province to install a 5G system in the coal mines that are 534 meters underground, according to a report by Shenzhen Economic Daily.The deepest underground network in the world, the system will help coal mine operators establish a highly efficient, reliable safety monitoring system and introduce unmanned, visualized, remote-controlled coal mine operation and maintenance.