Shanghai offers support in crisis

By Zhu Shenshen  |   2008-12-6  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Shanghai government has established a technology finance firm, an insurance designed for high-tech firms and provided platforms to encourage innovation and support such firms during the global financial crisis, local officials said.

Some members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee said the government also should do more on tax rebate.

Shanghai now has a special finance firm for high-tech firms. Meanwhile, the city has opened a small-credit company in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Industrial Zone, often regarded as the local version of Silicon Valley.

The financial support will boost the city's start-ups, according to the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.

The special insurance for high-tech firms is on trial in Zhangjiang, which provides them with insurance on research devices, export credit and intellectual property rights protection.

"The government just aims to provide enterprises fuel (to develop) and guarantee (against risk) during the financial crisis," said Niu Xiaoming, chief engineer of the commission.

The government also invested heavily in supercomputers and in the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

More than 30 members of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee visited the SSRF, which costs 1.2 billion yuan (US$176.47 million) and is due to start operations in April. The SSRF, the biggest platform for science research and technology development in China, will be used in almost every sector from life science, new materials to element analysis.

Huang Jincao, vice president of Alcatel Shanghai Bell, said the firm will spend more than 50 percent on research next year. ASB, Alcatel-Lucent's Chinese joint venture, will invest 1.8 billion yuan on innovation next year from 1.2 billion yuan this year.

"During the tough environment, we hope to get more support from the government, especially faster processing of tax rebate," Huang said.