China reforms eye more innovative bases

Small and medium-sized enterprises registering in Optical Valley often have financing difficulties because of their limited fixed assets, so the zone has offered incentives of up to 20 million yuan for newly-established financial institutions in Optical Valley. If an institution is headquartered there, the subsidy will be raised to 50 million yuan.

Motivated by the preferential policies, more than 100 bank branches have been set up in Optical Valley, and they have developed more than 100 financial products for the local high-tech enterprises, such as intelligent property loans.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang noted at the opening of the Summer Davos Forum last month that China was speeding up its implementation of a strategy of innovation-driven development, promoting technological innovation and deep integration of science and technology with the economy, and building a social environment friendly to innovation and business start-up activities.

More reforms would be made to the financial sector so that small, medium- and micro-sized enterprises could acquire loans and encourage social investment over various economic fields, he said.

Liu Min, general manager with the Hongtu Venture Capital Firm, said that apart from bank loans, high-tech enterprises in Optical Valley also need other financial services, such as equity investment and financial leasing, which is why Liu's company relocated its headquarters from Shenzhen to Wuhan in 2011 to invest in high-tech enterprises.

There are about 200 venture capital firms and investment management institutions registered in Optical Valley, bringing total capital of 18.7 billion yuan.

With the help of such capital, photoelectron, biomedicine, new energy, and quality equipment manufacturing enterprises have achieved rapid development. Last year, total revenues of the valley's enterprises surged 30 percent year on year to 500 billion yuan.

"We believe more innovative bases like Zhongguancun and Optical Valley will emerge to encourage the development of innovative enterprises," Liu said.