At the 2006 China Enterprise Summit held in Beijing today, Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice-Minister of the National Development and Reform commission (NDRC) said: "In order to further turn the scientific and research results into productive force, and push forward independent innovation, China calls for enhancing of IPR protection and improving various kinds of financing mechanisms such as undertaking investment, risk capital and financial institution financing.

 

"To date, the ratio of research results in China's science and research institutions and institutes of higher learning being turned into productive force is less than 10 percent.  70 percent of the country's digital-controlled lathes and more than 80 percent of the integrated circuits are imported from overseas, with some core technologies controlled by other countries.  Therefore, China is in urgent need of strengthening her primitive innovation capability, integrated innovation capability and introducing capacity for re-innovation digestion and assimilation," Zhang Xiaomei said.

 

It is reported that 86 percent of the research and development input and more than 90 percent of the inventions and patents of the entire world are in the hands of the developed countries.  Although a great number of China's industries are continuously expanding in scale, they have lost a lot of deserved benefits due to lack of core technology.  Therefore, China's industrial system should digest and assimilate the advanced technology from abroad, so as to turn it into an independent knowledge asset and build up her independent innovation contingents as well as her independent research and development platforms.

 

Governor Chen Yuan of the China Development Bank (CDB) pointed out that China has a financial asset of 40 trillion yuan. And people's bank deposits have reached more than 10 trillion yuan annually. And there are large amount of foreign exchange deposits.  However, China lacks the necessary financing market and system for putting her abundant financial resources into risk undertaking technological progress.

 

"China's financing market and system is in the process of development.  At present, China's loans in the technological field are rapidly increasing year by year.  It has reached billions yuan" Chen Yuan said.

 

"China is in the key stage of realizing her industrialization drive, therefore, there will appear a progressive decrease trend in terms of such elements as capital against the contribution rate of economic growth.  At the same time, there are relative shortages in the cultivated land, fresh water, energy and mineral resources.  As this contradiction will become more obvious in the period to come, it is imperative that we should embark onto a scientific development path of independent innovation, through which our traditional industrialization mode of consuming large amount of resources be changed into our mainly relying on science and technology as the primary productive force," Zhang Xiaoqiang said.

 

Chen Yuan emphasized that the country calls for a decent financing mechanism to meet the demand and supply between the turning of the results of the science and research institutions and the enterprise scientific technology.  At present, China is rather slow in her development of financing mechanism.  Hence, there is need for the banks to decrease their financing thresholds, so that they will be in a better position to substantially support the scientific and technological innovation of the small and medium-sized as well as the newly-emerged enterprises.  Currently, China's ratio for indirect financing exceeds 97 percent, while that of direct financing is too low.

 

Zhang Xiaoqiang said that "As far as the government is concerned, it should create an even better policy environment, improve the undertaking investment mechanism and push forward the integration between enterprises, universities and science and research institutions and encourage more science and technology personnel to give fuller play to their initiatives through innovation and cooperation with the enterprises.

 

2006-09-18

2006-09-18