Shandong Liaocheng: Science and Technology Innovation Voucher Empowers Small and Medium Enterprises

LIAOCHENG, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from the Shandong office of the Hong Kong Business Daily. In the Optical Microscope Inspection Room of the Liaocheng Institute For Product Quality Inspection, inspectors are concentrating on conducting metallographic testing for a metal processing enterprise, which can receive government subsidies through innovation vouchers for this testing fee.

Scientific and technological innovation is the lifeline of enterprises, and scientific instruments and equipment are the basis of scientific and technological innovation. However, due to problems such as lack of funds, many small and medium-sized enterprises have difficulties in purchasing and using scientific instruments and equipment. Liaocheng has fully implemented the innovation voucher policy, increased policy incentives, promoted the opening and sharing of scientific and technological resources, and stimulated the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized enterprises .

According to the current subsidy standard for innovation vouchers, Shandong Provincial Finance will grant a subsidy of 60% to the user for the expenses used in scientific and technological innovation activities; besides the 60% subsidy, Liaocheng will give another 30% subsidy for users who rely on the local city's supplier for testing. The enterprise or team with the same actual controller can receive a total of up to 650,000 RMB yuan of provincial and municipal subsidies each year. The innovation vouchers give full play to the leverage effect, fully stimulating the vitality of enterprise technological innovation.

Under the guidance of the policy of benefiting people and enterprises, innovation vouchers not only become a medium to connect governments, technology carriers, enterprises, and entrepreneurs, but also make full use of technology resources. This has reduced the idle rate, multiplied the effectiveness of public technology investment, and allowed innovation stakeholders to share the dividends.

Song Kangming, director of the Cooperation Section of Liaocheng Science and Technology Bureau, introduced that Liaocheng has taken innovation vouchers as the starting point and promoted the implementation of innovation and entrepreneurship policies through a series of efforts such as expanding the scope of policy incentives, optimizing the application process, and upgrading service models, greatly enhancing the enthusiasm of enterprises for innovation. Since 2020, the utilization rate of innovation vouchers in Liaocheng has been among the top in the Shandong Province for three consecutive years. In 2022, Liaocheng issued 636 innovation vouchers to 65 small, medium, and micro enterprises, totaling 2,446,600 RMB yuan, ranking second in the Shandong Province.