Updated Regulations to Promote Scientific & Technological Innovation in the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone came into effect Aug 1 promoting sci-tech and institutional innovations and providing strong legal guarantees for innovation-driven development.

Several regulations are pioneering in China and have added to the city's growth, said Yong Ling at an Aug 13 press conference. Yong is director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress.

Government investments in science and technology research will constantly increase; innovative products promoted, demonstrated, and applied via first purchases and orders; and a fault tolerance mechanism of scientific and technological innovation will be developed, Yong said.

Research is being conducted at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Zhuhai Institute of Advanced Technology in Tangjiawan [Photo by Li Jianshu / Zhuhai Daily]

Furthermore, researchers at higher-education, scientific research, and new-type R&D institutions and enterprises, invested by municipal financial funds, will be vested ownership or long-term right of use of innovation achievements that do not affect national security or national and social public interests.

And businesses and individuals who achieve remarkable outcomes or make great contributions in Zhuhai's sci-tech innovation events will receive honors and awards. A system is also established of "same share, different rights" for original shareholders of science and innovation enterprises. 

The third edition of the regulations contains 83 regulations in nine chapters. The document, first published in September 2010, details Zhuhai's first comprehensive local regulations for boosting sci-tech innovation.

Since implementing the innovation-driven development strategy in 2016, by the end of 2020 the city's expenditures in research and development accounted for 3.15 percent of local regional GDP, which is second in the province. Ownership of invention patents reached 93.9 per 10,000 persons, according to Wu Lin, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress. 

The number of hi-tech companies in the city climbed from the previous 397 to 2,101 by the end of 2020, and the industrial added value of high-tech companies above designated size accounted for 62.8 percent of Zhuhai's total.