The State Council decided to implement 20 reform measures nationwide or in eight comprehensive innovation reform pilot zones, said a circular released on Feb 21.

The eight areas refer to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Shanghai municipality, Guangdong province (Pearl River Delta), Anhui province (Hefei, Wuhu and Bengbu cities), Sichuan province (Chengdu, Deyang and Mianyang cities), Wuhan of Hubei province, Xi’an of Shaanxi province, and Shenyang of Liaoning province, where 36 reform measures were carried out in 2017 and 2018.

Seven reforms will help further innovation of technological finance. For example, banks and investment institutions will be encouraged to support innovation-driven technology companies by establishing a long-term market-based cooperation mechanism, and a financing evaluation system will be built for small and medium-sized technology companies.

And to promote innovation of technology management, six measures will be adopted, including one to pool strengths to create a shareholding alliance among cutting-edge technology industrial chains, and another to promote the mixed-ownership reform in related State-owned enterprises in old industrial bases.

In addition, to protect intellectual property rights, two measures will be implemented to establish platforms providing inter-regional lawsuits and notary services.

And finally, one measure will be applied to forge a new vocational education development mechanism and four to further civil-military integration.

The circular also required efforts to promote the newly issued 20 reform measures while consolidating those released in 2017 and 2018. The systematic integration of the measures in the same areas and the collaboration among the measures in different areas will both be strengthened.

Local authorities should be clear about their responsibilities and take actions in line with specific conditions, and related departments of the State Council should strengthen support and guidance. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology should take the lead in the reforms, especially in overall planning and coordination, strengthening policy interpretation, summarizing and publicizing typical experiences, it said.