Original Title: Notice of the General Office of the Hefei Municipal People’s Government on Issuing Several Policies to Accelerate the Development of the Software Industry and Promote the Creation of a “Software City” in Hefei

To accelerate the development of the city’s software industry and the construction of software parks, actively strive to become a “China Software City,” and build a software industry cluster with significant influence domestically, these policies are formulated in accordance with the actual conditions of our city.

I. Scope of Application

For the purposes of this policy, a “software enterprise” refers to an enterprise with independent legal person status whose primary business is software development or information technology services, and where software-related revenue accounts for no less than 50% of total operating revenue. Enterprises that have not fulfilled their obligation to ensure comprehensive statistical reporting—and thus meet the eligibility criteria but are not included in the statistical reporting of the above-scale software industry—will not be supported under this policy.

II. Key Areas of Support

This policy prioritizes support for the development of products such as foundational software, industrial software, general-purpose application software, industry-specific application software, and information security software; supports the development of platform software for cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and the metaverse; supports the migration of business systems in key industries such as finance, energy, power, telecommunications, and transportation, the provision of domestic IT innovation solutions, and the development of domestic IT innovation software products; and supports the development of open-source software products.

III. Strengthening Investment and Talent Attraction

(1) Encourage investment in establishing software enterprises in Hefei. Newly established software enterprises will be granted rewards of up to 1 million yuan, tiered according to the number of employees paying social insurance in Hefei and their operating revenue. Enterprises of all types are encouraged to spin off their software and information technology services businesses to pursue specialized development and establish independent legal entity software enterprises; such enterprises will be eligible for rewards in accordance with the aforementioned standards.

(2) Intensify efforts to attract leading enterprises.For enterprises listed on the Fortune Global 500, China 500, China Software Top 100, or domestic and international stock exchanges, or those with annual revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan, that establish independent legal-person software enterprises in Hefei with paid-in registered capital of no less than 10 million yuan, employ 100 or more employees with social insurance contributions in Hefei, and achieve annual revenue of 20 million yuan for the first time within two years of establishment, a one-time reward of up to 5 million yuan (not exceeding 20% of their revenue) will be granted;If annual revenue first reaches 20 million yuan within three years of establishment, a one-time reward of up to 5 million yuan, not exceeding 15% of the revenue, will be granted. Projects meeting the criteria defined in Hefei’s Guidelines for Identifying Major Investment Projects may apply for “case-by-case” policy support.

IV. Encouraging Expansion and Strengthening

(3) Encouraging Enterprises to Upgrade Development and Service Qualifications. Software enterprises newly certified at Levels 5, 4, or 3 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) will receive rewards of 500,000 yuan, 300,000 yuan, and 100,000 yuan, respectively; software enterprises newly certified at Levels 1 or 2 of the Information Technology Service Standards (ITSS) will receive rewards of 300,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, respectively.

(4) Encouraging Enterprises to Expand Their Scale. For existing software enterprises with annual operating revenue of 10 million yuan or more, if their revenue growth rate has exceeded 30% in each of the past two years, a reward of up to 3 million yuan will be granted, not exceeding 5% of the revenue increase in the second year. During the policy’s validity period, the same enterprise may receive this reward a maximum of two times.

(5) Encouraging enterprises to meet scale criteria and be included in official statistics. Vigorously promote the cultivation of software enterprises meeting scale criteria; enterprises achieving this status for the first time will receive a 200,000 yuan reward for their management team.

V. Support for Promotion and Application

(6) Support market expansion for first-of-its-kind software products. Support the selection of first-of-its-kind software products in major engineering projects, major initiatives, and relevant government procurement. Encourage state-owned enterprises and public institutions to take the lead in adopting first-of-its-kind software products. Encourage procuring entities or procurement agencies to reasonably incorporate evaluation criteria such as innovation and advanced technology, and not to restrict the eligibility of first-of-its-kind software products to participate in bidding on the grounds of scale, years in operation, or market performance. Where relevant regulations permit, single-source procurement may be adopted.

VI. Optimizing the Development Environment

(7) Establish a Special Fund for Software Industry Development. Strengthen the guiding role of industrial funds. Leverage the municipal government’s role in guiding master funds to attract social capital for the establishment of a special fund for software industry development, which will provide concentrated support for the development of key software enterprises and major project construction.

(8) Vigorously Support the Construction of Software Parks. Encourage eligible counties (cities) and districts to establish new software parks. Provide one-time, tiered subsidies of up to 3 million yuan for investment promotion and operational expenses to software park operators recognized at the municipal level. For software parks operated by nationally renowned software park operators, increase the subsidy for investment promotion and operational expenses by 20%.Subsequently, software park management teams will be eligible for tiered rewards of up to 1.5 million yuan if the number of newly added software enterprises and software business revenue reach a certain scale in consecutive years. To enhance the concentration of the software industry and intensify efforts to attract projects to the parks, software park operators are encouraged to offer rent reductions to newly settled software enterprises.

(9) Support the cultivation and recruitment of software talent. Support industry organizations, public service institutions, universities and research institutes, vocational colleges, key enterprises, and other entities in taking the lead to establish Hefei Software Industry Industry-Education Integration Bases to conduct professional technical training for software talent, with support provided on a case-by-case basis. Eligible software industry talent may enjoy talent policies such as housing rental subsidies, home purchase subsidies, position-based subsidies, and children’s education support.

(10) Fully leverage the role of industry associations. Key software enterprises in Hefei are encouraged to initiate the establishment of the Hefei Software Industry Association. The development of the association will be promoted through market-oriented mechanisms to serve as a bridge and link in industrial development, policy consultation, investment and talent attraction, and enterprise services.Establish channels for policy communication, invite the Software Association to participate in the formulation of standards, plans, and policy documents, and attend relevant industry meetings. For matchmaking activities (platforms) organized by the industry association—such as project roadshows, product launches, technical forums, and innovation and entrepreneurship competitions—support will be provided through government procurement of services.

This policy shall take effect from the date of issuance and remain valid for three years. The Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, in conjunction with relevant departments, shall be responsible for its interpretation. Policy funding shall be subject to total volume control in accordance with the annual budget and shall not be duplicated with other municipal-level policies. Should relevant policy provisions be adjusted during the implementation period, such adjustments shall prevail.