China Supports Tech Innovations of Small FirmsSmall high-tech firms in China are receiving intensified State support to technological innovation efforts, an official of the Ministry of Technology said.The special fund set up by the Torch Center of the Ministry of Technology last year, which is devoted to financing technological innovations in medium-size and small high-tech firms in China, has aided 759 such projects since last year with a total of 550 million yuan (US$66.27 million), said Li Linxi, chief engineer of the Torch Center. Another 300 projects received low-interest loans totaling 260 million yuan (US$31.33 million), he added. Upon completion, the above projects, mainly in areas such as electronics, new materials, bio-medicine, and new energy, will help generate 33 billion yuan (US$3.98 billion) in industrial added-value and US$1.23 billion in export turnover, Li said. More than 3,300 projects are still on the waiting list for aid from the special fund for technological innovations in small and hi-tech firms, calling for about four billion yuan (US$481 million) in total. Statistics show that China now has over ten million medium-size and small enterprises, accounting for more than 97 percent of the total enterprises. The government will continue to increase its support to small enterprises with their own intellectual patents, high technology, and good market prospects, Li stressed. |
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