China has issued a guideline to promote financial support for the construction of international sci-tech innovation centers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta,and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GBA).

The guideline, issued by the People's Bank of China and 10 other government departments, sets a two-phase goal. By 2030, the full-chain financial service system supporting sci-tech innovation will be improved, with stronger backing for applied basic research, technology innovation, commercialization of research outcomes, industrial upgrading and talent aggregation. By 2035, a sci-tech finance system tailored to internationally influential sci-tech innovation centers will be established.

The guideline promotes sci-tech finance systems with regional characteristics, laying out distinct financial service directions and key tasks for the three innovation regions.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will focus on original innovation and regional collaborative innovation, with financial support strengthened for major sci-tech infrastructure. Measures include leveraging the demonstration role of the Zhongguancun sci-tech innovation finance reform pilot zone and exploring the formation of major research insurance consortia for fields such as intelligent driving, humanoid robots and biomedicine.

The Yangtze River Delta will build on its industrial cluster synergy to create a multi-party sci-tech finance service ecosystem featuring joint contribution and shared benefits. Measures include deepening the sci-tech innovation finance reform pilot zones across Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, and Jiaxing, accelerating implementation of Science and Technology Innovation Board Market reform measures, and optimizing region-specific financial services along the G60 (the Shanghai-Kunming expressway) Sci-Tech Innovation Corridor.

The GBA will advance financial reform and opening up to build an open sci-tech finance service system. Measures include deepening cross-border credit cooperation among the three places and supporting enterprises at home and abroad to list on capital markets.

Financial resources will be guided toward orderly investment in national strategic sci-tech forces, including national laboratories, national research institutions, high-level research universities and sci-tech leading enterprises.

Regarding opening up, the guideline proposes studying the establishment of an insurance system covering the professional liability, and medical, and health needs of sci-tech talent. For returning scientists and sci-tech entrepreneurship talent included in national and local key talent programs, foreign exchange facilitation support plans will be explored.

A range of measures will be introduced to support cross-border facilitation. High-quality enterprises engaged in service trade, such as R&D, intellectual property, software, and computing power services, will receive more efficient and convenient cross-border fund settlement services from financial institutions.