The government will adopt preferential banking policies for promoting innovation and startup of businesses, so as to create more conveniences for high-tech companies to go public.

The State Council published the National Guideline on Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development (2006-2020) on Thursday.

It pledges to build and improve a mechanism of risk investment for the startup of companies, through drafting and stipulating laws, regulations and relevant policies for promoting healthy development of risk investment for the establishment of companies.

The government will actively push forward the building of a secondary stock market and set up a multi-level capital market system, to accelerate the industrialization of science and technology, it says.

China will encourage high-tech companies with favorable conditions to go public on domestic first-board and second-board stock markets, respectively, create good conditions for medium and small high-tech companies to go public overseas, and create a better banking and foreign exchange environment for high-tech ventures to raise funds overseas.

The country will conduct experimental trading of stocks of unlisted high-tech firms within national high-tech development zones, set up markets for the exchange of property rights, and probe ways and adopt positive measures to push more capital to go into venture investment market for startups.

China will establish a national self-disciplined organization for risk investment of high-tech ventures, it says.

The guideline says that the government encourages financial institutions to grant preferential credit loans to support state projects for industrialization of technology and for application of technological achievements, and create a sound environment for small businesses to raise funds, by setting up and improving a credibility assurance system for encouraging the innovation of small companies and other kinds of credibility assurance systems.

China will build up a variety of platforms on concerted financial support to science and technology, encourage banking institutions to improve and strengthen their financial services for high-tech companies, small technology firms in particular, andencourage insurance companies to inhance their strength in innovation of products and services, so as to provide an all-round guarantee for the innovation of science and technology. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2006)