Lujiazui, the financial center in Shanghai, forms a perfect backdrop to the Bund area. [Photo by Wang Gang/For China Daily]

Shanghai in East China recently issued a policy called Management Measures for the Recognition and Reward of Innovative Enterprise Headquarters – laying out a raft of measures to boost the ranks of innovative corporate HQs there.

The measures stipulate that innovative enterprise headquarters that are newly established legal entities with a paid-in registered capital of over 100 million yuan ($14.51 million) – and those that registered or relocated to Shanghai after Jan 1, 2022 – will be given up to 5 million yuan in start-up funding.

Those that meet the support conditions will be given three years of funding, according to certain standards, by the districts.

Innovative HQs whose annual revenue has reached 500 million yuan, 1 billion yuan and 1.5 billion yuan, respectively, for the first time since Jan 1, 2022 – and whose new comprehensive contributions in the region are not less than 10 million yuan – will be given 5 million yuan, 3 million yuan, and 2 million yuan in business grants.

The measures also stipulate that recognized innovative enterprise headquarters will enjoy support and facilitation in their industrialization of major projects, cultivation of high-value patents, recruitment drives, imports of research and development materials, innovative product procurements, commercialization of achievements, registration and in other areas.

In recent years, Shanghai has continued to increase its efforts to cultivate innovative enterprises and a group of high-growth businesses has accelerated both development and growth.

By the end of 2022, there were 69 unicorn enterprises, 78 sci-tech innovation board listed companies, about 5,000 city-level specialized and new innovative enterprises and about 22,000 high-tech enterprises in Shanghai.

A number of major original achievements have emerged in the fields of advanced integrated circuits processes and equipment, high-end medical imaging equipment, original new drugs and artificial intelligence chips.