“Innovation coupons” provide financial subsidies for high-tech enterprises along the Yangtze River Delta, which have turned out to be a bridge between companies, R&D platforms and higher education institutions.
Many small private companies are making use of the regions scientific advances. Rainbowfish Company, a private company specializing in deep-sea technology, has tapped into the resources of Shanghai Ocean University and established an abyss research center in Lingang, an emerging science hub in the southeast of Shanghai.
“We find limitations in confining ourselves only to Lingang or Shanghai. Everybody knows there is no good deep-water shoreline for ocean equipment or for marine technology in Shanghai. There is no ideal space,” said Wu Xin, chairman of the Rainbowfish.
With the combination of scientific and technological achievements and sound industrial facilities, the integration of the Yangtze River Delta is fueling all sorts of future growth.
The first cross-provincial innovation coupon was issued in Changxing, Zhejiang Province in 2013. And then in 2017, the pilot program extended to Jiaxing in Zhejiang, and Suzhou and Nantong in Jiangsu.
Now in Jiaxing, there are more than 1,000 companies that have applied for innovation coupons like Rongtai, and nearly 10 percent of them have made contact with scientific research institutions in Shanghai.
“With this coupon, the scientific, educational and innovation resources in Shanghai, including major high tech achievements and talents, can benefit the rest of the Yangtze River Delta region including Jiaxing, so that scientific and technological innovation resources can freely flow in this region,” remarked Gan Renjie, Zhejiang Jiaxing Science & Technology Bureau.
The coupon policy has not only saved money for everyone, but also helped them find much needed talent.
However, in the current stage, even with innovation coupons, enterprises need to cover the payment in advance, and then get reimbursements from the government after they go through the application process.
This might be an obstacle for small- and medium-size enterprises which do not have adequate capital flow.
