On June 12, the Science and Technology Finance Roundtable Conference of the Second Belt and Road Initiative was held in Chengdu, Sichuan. More than 200 Chinese and foreign guests gathered together to promote an open and inclusive global innovation ecosystem through open cooperation in science and technology finance. The meeting is co-organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the People's Government of Sichuan Province, and the People's Government of Chongqing.

Upstream News reporters learned from the scene that Chongqing fully plays the institutional guarantee role of fiscal funds in supporting scientific and technological innovation, and concentrates financial resources to support the research and development of key core technologies. In the past three years, it has invested more than 1 billion yuan, driving more than 5 billion yuan in corporate supporting funds, and promoting the deep integration of the capital chain and innovation chain.

Conference site

Build an innovative and friendly financial system

"In the field of innovation, it is extremely important to build an innovative and friendly financial system." At the roundtable meeting, Zhao Changwen, dean of the National Development Institute of Sun Yat-sen University, said that scientific and technological innovation requires large-scale and long-term patient capital. Building an open innovation-friendly financial system requires the government to provide financial infrastructure and improve the risk-return structure of the market through policy tools.

Zhao Changwen, Dean of the National Development Institute of Sun Yat-sen University, analyzes the innovative practices in Shenzhen and Hangzhou

Zhao Changwen believes that the innovation practices in Shenzhen and Hangzhou provide valuable experience for global innovation cooperation. He introduced that Shenzhen's enterprise innovation vitality comes from its distinctive six "90%" characteristics: more than 90% of innovative companies are local enterprises, 90% of R&D institutions are located within the enterprise, 90% of R&D personnel work in the enterprise, 90% of R&D funds come from enterprises, 90% of important patents come from enterprises, and 90% of patents for major scientific and technological projects also come from enterprises.

Hangzhou demonstrates the government's strong guiding role in the layout of strategic emerging industries, and its core is reflected in the "three 15%" fiscal investment mechanism: the average annual growth of municipal fiscal science and technology investment must reach more than 15%, more than 15% of the new financial resources at the municipal level should be used for science and technology revenue, and 15% of the existing industrial policy funds will be concentrated on cultivating and developing new quality productivity.

Zhao Changwen said that the password for innovation success lies in "a proactive government and an effective market." In the field of innovation, we must not only play the leading role of the market, but also rely on the guidance and support of the government.

Chongqing is committed to this. Chongqing has built a state-owned private equity fund structure at the municipal and district levels with a total scale of 120 billion yuan, providing strong financial support for technology-based enterprises. In 2024, the loan balance of technology-based enterprises in the city was higher than 700 billion yuan, an increase of 44% year-on-year.

At the same time, Chongqing's science and technology finance related policies cover the entire life cycle of enterprises and provide tax and fee preferential policies throughout the entire chain of innovation. For example, the Western Science City enterprise Qing'an Energy Storage Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. enjoys an additional deduction amount of approximately RMB 18 million before tax in 2024. With the support of various policies, the company's new products were launched in 2024, achieving sales revenue of 370 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 40% over 2023.

In the next step, Chongqing will also work closely with Sichuan Province. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology, taking the opportunity of applying for the creation of a science and technology innovation financial reform pilot zone, we will continue to deepen the "big article" of science and technology finance.

On-site guests

Help the "Belt and Road" scientific and technological innovation cooperation

Financial power is an important support for technological innovation. Representatives from all parties at the meeting shared new measures to help the "Belt and Road" scientific and technological innovation cooperation.

"The Ministry of Commerce actively crosses national boundaries and promotes the precise docking of supply and demand of science and technology finance." Liang Haofei, deputy director of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that, for example, in December 2024, the Ministry of Commerce held a special "Invest in China" Middle East promotion and China-Middle East industrial capital docking event in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. 40 Chinese companies in new energy, advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, information technology and other fields negotiated docking with more than 70 Middle East sovereign wealth funds and investment institutions.

Roundtable Forum

"CATL and BYD are both investing in Hungary, and we will do a good job in financial support." Adam Egerseghi, chief digital operations officer of Hungary MBH Bank, is optimistic about the prospects. He said that China is the world's leading economy, and Hungary has a "European gateway" and there is a bright future for cooperation between the two sides. As a leading financial institution in Hungary, MBH Bank will seize the opportunity to serve global science and technology economic cooperation.

"While seeing technology finance empowering technological innovation, we must also be prepared to deal with risks." Gong Xiaojun, chief information officer of DBS Bank (China) Co., Ltd., said that DBS Bank uses advanced technologies such as blockchain and big data risk assessment models to ensure the security of cross-border financial services covering more than 70% of the "Belt and Road" co-built national markets.

As an important achievement of this roundtable, the "Belt and Road" Consensus for Science and Technology and Finance Cooperation" was officially released at the meeting. The "Consensus" calls on all parties to actively participate in the "Belt and Road" science and technology finance open cooperation, promote pragmatic cooperation through deeper exchanges, and promote the coordinated development of science and technology-financial-industry among various countries. Taking science and technology as the leader, finance as the support, and open cooperation as the path, we will contribute to promoting the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" and building a community with a shared future for mankind!

The release of the "Consensus" marks a solid step in cooperation between countries in the field of science and technology finance by co-construction of the "Belt and Road" and will inject new vitality into regional and even global scientific and technological innovation.

Photo provided by Chen Li, a reporter from Upstream News, Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau