China's small- and medium-sized Sino-foreign joint ventures and rural enterprises have become a main force in the country's technological upgrading, officials with the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday.
More than 80 per cent of the high-tech projects listed in the 2002 State Torch Plan are being carried out by some 1,100 small- and medium-sized enterprises, according to the ministry's Torch High-tech Industry Development Center.
With the start of high-tech industries in the late 1980s, China initiated the Torch Plan in 1988 to promote commercial utilization of high-tech achievements and boost traditional industries by encouraging them to adopt high-tech, said center official Li Linxi.
The ministry has approved 1,358 Torch Plan projects this year, focusing on high-tech fields such as IT, biological engineering, materials science and environmental protection, according to Li.
The Torch Plan projects will enjoy preferential financial policies from the State and local governments, such as reduction of or exemption from taxes, as well as subsidies and low-interest loans.
"The projects also have priority in getting financial support from the country's New Product Program, which pays out subsidies of 6 billion yuan (US$726 million) every year," said Li.
After 14 years with the Torch Plan in place, some high-tech industries have become pillars of the local economy, such as the information industry in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and the new materials industry in East China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.
A total of 25,000 projects at State and local levels have been supported by the Torch Plan since 1988, which has greatly promoted China's high-tech industries and helped turn these new technology achievements into market products, Li said.
"High-tech industries play a catalyst role in developing regional economies and help improve the productivity of traditional industries," said Li.
(China Daily August 9, 2002)
