Notice on Issuing the Supporting Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Software and Information Technology Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

Normative Document No 5 [2023] of Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality

Notice on Issuing the Supporting Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Software and Information Technology Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

All towns (street communities), departments of and agencies directly under Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone (Nansha District),

The Notice on Issuing the Supporting Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Software and Information Technology Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone) has been approved by the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality and Nansha District People's Government and is hereby issued to you for your compliance and implementation. Problems encountered in the implementation shall be directly reported to Nansha District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.

Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality

General Office of Nansha District People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality

                                  September 1, 2023

Supporting Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Software and Information Technology Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

These Measures are hereby formulated in light of the realities of Nansha District to fulfill the principles specified in the Notice by the State Council on Issuing the Overall Plan for Promoting Comprehensive Cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by Further Deepening Opening-up in Nansha District of Guangzhou (Normative Document No.13 [2022] of the State Council), the Notice by the State Council on Issuing the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Digital Economy (Normative Document No.29 [2021] of the State Council), the Regulations of Guangdong Province on the Promotion of Digital Economy, the Regulations of Guangzhou Municipality on the Promotion of Digital Economy and their implementation plans, further accelerate the development of the software and information technology service industries, cultivate a new software ecosystem based on innovative resources, build Nansha into a demonstrative application base for this industry and consolidate the core industrial foundation of the digital economy.

These Measures shall apply to enterprises of information transmission, software, and information technology services that are actually engaged in business activities, have sound financial systems and independently conduct accounting in Nansha District of Guangzhou Municipality (hereinafter referred to as "Nansha") as independent legal entities (refer to Categories 64 and 65 specified in the Industrial classification for national economic activities (GB/T 4754-2017) for industrial classification; hereinafter referred to as "information technology and software enterprises") and enterprises of other industries specified in Articles 4, 7, 9, 10 and 11 of these Measures.

Article 1 Reducing operating costs of enterprises. For newly established information technology and software enterprises that rent over 200 square meters in Nansha for actual operations and have over 20 employees, a subsidy of 50% of the actual rent (excluding tax and management fees) of the current year will be granted, maximum 50 yuan per square meter per month and maximum 1 million yuan per year. During the validity period of these Measures, each enterprise can apply for the subsidy for up to three consecutive years from the year of its establishment.

Article 2 Encouraging enterprises to expand their sizes. For newly established information technology and software enterprises that actually operate in Nansha, have an annual operation income of more than 20 million yuan for the first time and are included in Nansha's statistics of enterprises above the designated size, a one-time reward of 100,000 yuan will be granted.

Article 3 Supporting enterprises to grow and develop. For information technology and software enterprises that have an annual operation income of more than 100 million yuan, 500 million yuan, 1 billion yuan, 2 billion yuan or 5 billion yuan for the first time, a reward of 100,000 yuan, 200,000 yuan, 500,000 yuan, 1 million yuan or 2 million yuan will be granted (if their operation income reaches the criteria for all rewards step by step, the reward difference will be granted). A reward of 50% of their annual increased contribution to Nansha's economic development will be granted to those with an annual operation income ranging from 20 million yuan (including 20 million yuan) to 100 million yuan (excluding 100 million yuan) and a year-on-year growth of 30% or those with an annual operation income exceeding 100 million yuan and a year-on-year growth of 15%.

Article 4 Encouraging the construction of software parks. For famous or characteristic software parks recognized by national, provincial or municipal industry and information technology authorities, a one-time reward of 3 million yuan, 2 million yuan or 1 million yuan will be granted to their operation entities respectively (if they are recognized by national, provincial and municipal industry and information technology authorities step by step, the reward difference will be granted).

Article 5 Encouraging the R&D and application of first-version software. For information technology and software enterprises with first-version software products that are recognized by national, provincial or municipal industry and information technology authorities, a one-time ancillary reward of 30% of the subsidy or reward granted by superior authorities will be granted, maximum 1 million yuan for each product. The total subsidies or rewards at all levels shall not exceed the total product investment.

Article 6 Facilitating the promotion of computing services. For information technology and software enterprises that purchase computing services such as server rental, bandwidth rental and cabinet rental provided by the data centers in Nansha, a subsidy of 30% of the annual actual payment for computing services will be granted, maximum 1 million yuan per year.

Article 7 Encouraging cross-border data flow. For enterprises in Nansha that purchase cross-border communication services such as data cross-border channel resources from basic telecommunications operators or purchase data cross-border circulation services such as data cross-border compliance review and personal information transfer security assessment from institutions in Nansha and have passed the review of national data security regulatory authorities, a subsidy of 30% of the annual cumulative payment of relevant service contracts that have been paid will be granted, maximum 1 million yuan per year.

Article 8 Promoting the trading of data products. For information technology and software enterprises, as data product suppliers, that obtain data asset registration certificates and have an annual total income of over 5 million yuan from listed transactions in data trading venues in Nansha that are recognized by regulatory authorities at or above the provincial level, a reward of 1% of the actual annual income from listed transactions will be granted, maximum 1 million yuan per year.

Article 9 Facilitating networked collaboration in the manufacturing industry. 5G private network renovation will be promoted among manufacturing enterprises. Manufacturing enterprises will be granted a subsidy of 30% of the total actual costs in one-time construction, renovation and supporting services in the first year, maximum 500,000 yuan per year.

Article 10 Encouraging the pilot operation of autonomous driving. For car models that are equipped with the autonomous driving system and newly included in the Catalogue of Car Models for Demonstrative Operation of Intelligent Connected Vehicles (Autonomous Driving) in Guangzhou, a one-time subsidy of 500,000 yuan will be granted for each car model. For intelligent connected vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "ICV") products that have been approved for national ICV access and road pilot projects, a one-time subsidy of 1 million yuan will be granted to R&D enterprises of the autonomous driving system, maximum 5 million yuan per year.

Article 11 Creating benchmark application scenarios. In the fields of digital technology such as the Internet, AI, new-generation mobile communication, cross-border data flow and data security, no more than 30 application scenario benchmark cases with obvious demonstration and promotion effects on high-quality economic development, social governance and improvement of people's livelihood in Nansha will be selected annually. A subsidy of maximum 40% of the actual investment for each scenario will be granted, maximum 3 million yuan for a single scenario. This article shall be subject to the Administration Measures for Digital Technology Application Demonstration Projects in Nansha District of Guangzhou Municipality (Normative Document No.1 [2023] of Nansha District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Guangzhou Municipality).

Supplementary Provisions

(I) If the same project meets the provisions for the subsidy or reward specified in these Measures and other supporting policies of Nansha (including policy provisions of superior departments requiring Nansha to support or bear funds), the highest subsidy or reward shall prevail but shall be granted only once, unless otherwise stipulated. Enterprises that enjoy preferential policy support according to the "one enterprise, one policy" principle shall not enjoy similar policy support specified in these Measures (except for those that voluntarily give up the preferential policy support according to the "one enterprise, one policy" principle). For enterprises that move to Nansha from other areas within Guangzhou's jurisdiction, in case of hand-in funds in budget transfer, the above-mentioned subsidy or reward shall be deducted during policy implementation.

(II) Recipients of the subsidy or reward specified in these Measures shall comply with national laws and regulations, operate legally and sign a letter of commitment. If they fail to honor the commitment, they shall return all the funds they have received according to the provisions of these Measures. Enterprises that illegally obtain policy funds shall be handled by judicial authorities in accordance with the law. Enterprises that fall into one of the following circumstances shall not enjoy the subsidy or reward specified in these Measures: They have any record of criminal responsibilities for significant safety, quality or environmental violations; They or their main responsible persons are included in the list of dishonest debtors subject to enforcement; and other circumstances where a subsidy or reward is not appropriate.

(III) All the currency mentioned in these Measures is CNY, unless otherwise indicated. The words describing numerical values including "maximum", "no more than", "more than" and "up to" in these Measures include the base values. During the implementation of these Measures, if the valuation of foreign currency and CNY is involved, the calculation shall be made based on the foreign exchange rate of the People's Bank of China on the day of verifying the funds. All the funds specified in these Measures shall be rounded down to four decimal places to the left of the decimal point.

(IV) "Newly established enterprises" as mentioned in these Measures refers to the enterprises whose business registration address is in Nansha and the time of whose first business registration or change of business address to Nansha shall not exceed 24 months from the time of applying for the subsidy or reward specified in these Measures.

(V) These Measures shall enter into force from the date of issuance and shall be valid until December 31, 2025. These Measures shall prevail from January 1, 2023 to the date of issuance of these Measures. The subsidy or reward specified in these Measures shall be granted on a redemption basis, that is, an eligible item during the period from 2023 to 2025 will be subsidized or rewarded in the next year (2024 to 2026). In case of any adjustment of any relevant policy by any superior authority, these Measures shall be adjusted accordingly.

Form of Disclosure: Active Disclosure

Issued by the Secretariat of the Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality on September 1, 2023