On 10 January 2020, the State Council’s General Office published the Notice on Promoting the Second Batch of Reforms and Measures Supporting Innovation (Guo Ban Fa [2018], No. 126). The Notice follows the decisions taken during a prior meeting in December 2018 of the State Council Standing Committee to adopt, on a larger scale, a series of mature reforms and initiatives to spur and support innovation (link below).
A total of 23 specific reforms and measures were identified, relating to:
- IPR protection (5 measures);
- Incentives for technology transfer (4 measures);
- FinTech innovation (5 measures);
- Military-Civil integration (6 measures, not disclosed to the public);
- Institutional management innovation (3 measures).
A few examples include:
| No. | Reform/measure | Description | Responsible body | Expanded to |
| 6 | Reform of the IPR ownership of technology results based on ex-ante ownership incentives | The current mechanism rewarding scientists only after the transfer of technology results, will be replaced by a mechanism offering scientists a certain proportion of IPR ownership already before the technology results are transferred and converted, thus incentivising them to fully commit to technology transfer (in order to obtain profits from their proportion of IPR ownership). | MOST, NDRC, MOF, SIPO, MOE, SASAC, CAS, MOJ | 8 pilot reform areas |
| 9 | Ad hoc make-to-order style R&D and tech transfer projects | Local universities and research structures are encouraged to launch and sell ad hoc R&D, tech transfer and service projects exclusively to enterprises. | MOST | Nationwide |
| 10 | Establishment of dedicated innovation boards in regional equity markets | Regional equity markets should establish ad hoc boards for innovation, offering financing, training and listing services to technology SMEs and start-ups. | China Securities Regulatory Commission | 8 pilot reform areas |
| 12 | Promotion of fault-tolerant mechanisms for government equity funds investing in seed- and early-stage SMEs | Establishment of fault-tolerant rates within seed funds and venture capital funds owned by regional equity investment funds. | NDRC, MOF | Nationwide |
| 21 | Allow local university to conduct – autonomously and independently – talent recruitment and attraction work and academic title review | Transfer of authority for talent recruitment and academic title review to local universities, allowing them to formulate independently recruitment plans based on their needs. | MOE, MOHRSS | 8 pilot reform areas |
Note: This is the second batch of innovation measures that are rolled out nation-wide, after a pilot implementation in eight Chinese cities and regions (including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai, and Guangdong province). The first batch was approved in September 2017 (see below).
External link:
http://www.most.gov.cn/mostinfo/xinxifenlei/fgzc/gfxwj/gfxwj2018/201901/t20190110_144696.htm
See also:
State Council’s Notice on Promoting the First Batch of Reforms and Measures Supporting Innovation