A 10-billion-yuan ($1.5-billion) investment to support growth of the integrated circuit industry, industrial talent training, and intellectual property protection was unveiled at a city conference Oct 23. 

The State-Owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of Zhuhai will set up the fund in the context of a planned 100-billion-yuan ($15-billion) integrated circuit (IC) industrial cluster by 2025. This comes in the wake of recently adopted Opinions for Zhuhai to Vigorously Develop IC Industry and Several Policies & Measures to Boost the Development of the IC Industry in Zhuhai.

Newly settled IC manufacturing projects will be granted up to 2 million yuan ($298,600) for every 10 million US dollars or 100 million yuan ($15 million) in annual paid-in registered capital before beginning production. Those already operating can receive up to 3 million yuan ($447,900) for every $10 million/100 million yuan in newly increased annual paid-in registered capital. Total awards for a single project will not exceed 100 million yuan.

Listed semiconductor, leading and unicorn IC enterprises will be given a one-off award of 10 million yuan ($1.5 million). Those setting up headquarters or regional headquarters in Zhuhai will receive a one-time grant of 3 million yuan. 

Tsinghua Science Park in the Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan) where a 20-billion-yuan ($2.9-billion) chip design and 10-billion-yuan compound semiconductor industrial cluster were recently announced [Photo by Wu Changfu & Zhu Gaochuang to Zhuhai Daily]

IC design/R&D enterprises will be granted a one-time award of up to 1 million yuan ($149,600), 2 million yuan, 3 million yuan, 5 million yuan ($746,500), 6 million yuan ($895,800), or 8 million yuan ($1.2 million) if annual operating income exceeds 100 million yuan, 300 million yuan ($45 million), 500 million yuan ($75 million), 1 billion yuan ($150 million), 1.5 billion yuan ($224 million), or 2 billion yuan ($299 million) for the first time respectively.

Likewise, IC manufacturing, package testing, equipment, and material enterprises will receive up to 2 million, 3 million, 5 million, 8 million, 10 million, or 15 million yuan ($2 million) when annual operating revenue exceeds 300 million yuan, 500 million yuan, 1 billion yuan, 3 billion yuan ($448 million), 5 billion yuan ($747 million), or 10 billion yuan for the first time.

The policies apply to a wide coverage of beneficiaries including Zhuhai-registered enterprises engaged in IC design, manufacture, package testing, equipment, materials, and electronic design automation equipment R&D, as well as relevant scientific research institutions, universities and colleges, functional platforms, innovation carriers, and projects.

Support will be given to IC enterprises based on their needs at different stages such as introduction, settlement, R&D, tape-out, industrialization, and listing. For instance, the maximum subsidy for settlement and added investment will reach 100 million yuan, a figure also applicable to Zhuhai Innovation & Entrepreneurship Project Teams.

To attract major strategic IC projects, Zhuhai will subsidize 30 percent of the industrialization/R&D expenditures for manufacturing, package testing, equipment, and material projects with a total investment of at least 500 million yuan, high-end R&D projects with investment of at least 300 million yuan, as well as chip design projects with advanced technologies.

Enterprises are encouraged to conduct R&D with breakthroughs in technological innovations. A maximum subsidy of 20 million yuan ($3 million) is available for major innovative achievements that can obtain independent intellectual property rights within three to five years and propel industrial development.

The city will also strengthen cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao in the sector to make up for its short links in original innovation and core technologies.

In 2019, the scale of Zhuhai's IC industry was 7.25 billion yuan ($1.1 billion). The city's IC design industry alone recorded 6.83 billion yuan ($1 billion), ranking 8th in the country and 2nd in Guangdong. Citywide IC enterprises achieved business income of 5.62 billion yuan ($839 million) from January to September this year, an increase of 27.68 percent year-on-year.