Original Title: Notice Issued by the Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province, the Development and Reform Commission of Shandong Province, the Department of Education of Shandong Province, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Shandong Province, the Department of Finance of Shandong Province, the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the People’s Government of Shandong Province, the Bureau of Statistics of Shandong Province, the Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shandong Province, and the Shandong Provincial Tax Bureau of the State Taxation Administration Regarding the Issuance of"Several Measures to Further Increase Society-wide R&D Investment"
To thoroughly implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the 12th Plenary Session of the 11th Provincial Party Committee, effectively raise the level of society-wide R&D investment, and accelerate the construction of a high-level innovative province, the following measures are formulated in light of the actual conditions of our province:

I. Strengthening the Leading Role of Enterprises in R&D Investment

1. Encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment. Improve the fiscal subsidy system for enterprise R&D to guide enterprises in continuously increasing their R&D investment. For science and technology enterprises with annual sales revenue of 200 million yuan or more, where R&D investment in the current year accounts for 4% (inclusive) or more of sales revenue, a subsidy of up to 6% of the portion of R&D expense super-deduction benefits newly enjoyed compared to the previous year may be granted.For technology-based enterprises with annual sales revenue of 200 million yuan or less, where R&D investment accounts for 6% or more of sales revenue in the current year, a subsidy of up to 6% of the total amount of R&D expense super-deductions enjoyed in the current year may be granted. The maximum annual subsidy per enterprise is 6 million yuan. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Tax Bureau)

2. Promote the establishment of R&D institutions and the conduct of R&D activities by industrial enterprises above designated size. Vigorously cultivate key laboratories, technology innovation centers, engineering research centers, enterprise technology centers, “One Enterprise, One Technology” R&D centers, and new-type R&D institutions within industrial enterprises (including foreign-invested enterprises), and encourage industrial enterprises to continuously increase their R&D expenditure intensity.Industrial enterprises above designated size applying for provincial-level science and technology programs, provincial-level innovation platforms, or provincial-level science and technology talent projects must have established R&D institutions and be conducting R&D activities; upon project completion, their R&D intensity must exceed the provincial average. By 2022, the proportion of industrial enterprises above designated size engaged in R&D activities will reach approximately 35%, and the proportion of such enterprises with established R&D institutions will exceed 20%. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology)

3. Expand the pool of enterprises above designated size. Expand the provincial “Small-to-Large” key enterprise cultivation pool by 1.2 times, implement incentive measures, financing support, and “one-on-one” targeted services, promote standardized corporate restructuring, and strive to have 4,000 enterprises meet the criteria for inclusion in the statistical reporting system annually. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Provincial Bureau of Local Financial Supervision)

4. Optimize the structure of the group of enterprises above designated size. Include eligible enterprises above designated size in the high-tech enterprise cultivation pool for priority development, providing them with targeted services such as the dispatch of special representatives, policy guidance, recruitment of high-level talent, and technology-focused financial support, thereby significantly increasing the proportion of high-tech enterprises among those above designated size. (Responsible unit: Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

5. Encourage state-owned enterprises to increase R&D investment. Establish a mechanism for mandatory growth in R&D investment by state-owned enterprises, ensuring an average annual growth rate of no less than 10% by 2022. Establish and improve a reporting system for science and technology investment among key provincial industrial enterprises. Implement and refine evaluation measures that treat R&D investment by state-owned enterprises as equivalent to profits. Encourage state-owned enterprises to establish innovation platforms, achieving full coverage of R&D institutions among state-owned industrial enterprises above designated size. (Responsible units: Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

6. Strengthen policy implementation and follow-up services. Implement tax support policies that promote corporate technological innovation, such as tax incentives for high-tech enterprises and additional pre-tax deductions for corporate R&D expenses, in accordance with regulations. Provide “one-on-one” follow-up services to enterprises with high R&D expenditure intensity; offer point-to-point guidance to enterprises above designated size with no R&D expenditure or low R&D intensity; and provide key services to high-tech enterprises and enterprises in the high-tech enterprise cultivation pool to accelerate their quality improvement and upgrading.(Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Tax Bureau)

II. Stabilizing R&D Investment in Higher Education Institutions and Research Institutes

7. Encourage higher education institutions and research institutes to increase R&D investment. Incorporate R&D investment and innovation performance of higher education institutions and research institutes as key indicators in the allocation of innovation resources and performance evaluation for “Double First-Class” universities, key universities, and provincial research institutes.Universities and research institutes are encouraged to increase investment in basic research. By 2022, R&D expenditure by universities and research institutes should account for 10% of total societal R&D expenditure, and the proportion of basic research expenditure in the province’s total R&D expenditure should reach 5.54%. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

8. Strengthen industry-university-research collaboration. Establish a working mechanism to promote the deep integration of industry, academia, and research, further enhance cross-departmental coordination and horizontal collaboration, and systematically integrate resources such as technology, talent, platforms, and funding to better foster a virtuous cycle of technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and talent development.Accelerate the implementation of policies at all levels to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Encourage researchers from universities and research institutes to proactively collaborate with enterprises to conduct industry-academia-research cooperative research, primarily funded by enterprises. Individual horizontal research projects with secured funding of 500,000 yuan or more shall be treated as provincial-level science and technology plan projects. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology)

9. Vigorously develop new types of R&D institutions. Give priority support to universities and research institutes collaborating with enterprises to establish new types of R&D institutions, such as R&D centers and industrial research institutes. Establish a registry for new R&D institutions; those in the registry with excellent performance evaluations will be eligible for up to 1 million yuan in post-grant support.Support enterprises in launching global calls for proposals to organize and implement major science and technology projects. For projects where overseas high-level experts respond to these calls and establish new R&D institutions centered on technological achievements, pilot programs will allow such institutions to use project funds across borders in accordance with national foreign exchange management regulations, thereby promoting the aggregation of global innovation resources.Underdeveloped cities, counties (cities, districts) are encouraged to establish science and technology innovation outposts in innovation hubs such as Jinan, Qingdao, and Yantai. If a new R&D institution established within such an outpost is approved as a provincial-level platform, the number of provincial-level R&D platforms will be counted separately for both the host location and the sending location. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

III. Leveraging the Guiding Role of Fiscal Funds

10. Improve the government R&D investment mechanism. Governments at all levels shall prioritize scientific and technological innovation as a key area of fiscal expenditure, coordinate various funds for the development of scientific and technological innovation, and increase fiscal investment in science and technology. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Finance)

11. Fully leverage the catalytic effect of fiscal science and technology funds. Further increase the ratio of self-raised funds to provincial fiscal science and technology funds for enterprises leading major provincial science and technology innovation projects; in principle, self-raised funds should be matched at a ratio of no less than four times the amount of support applied for. Intensify reforms in science and technology equity investment, broaden financing channels for technology-based enterprises, and encourage and guide various forms of social capital—such as industrial investment funds and private equity funds—to participate in science and technology innovation, jointly supporting technology-based small, medium, and micro enterprises as well as high-tech enterprises.(Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Finance)

IV. Enhancing Incentive and Service Levels

12. Emphasize regional evaluation. Make R&D investment a key indicator in the evaluation of economic development zones and high-tech zones, treating R&D investment as equivalent to tax revenue per mu. Guide economic development zones and high-tech zones to prioritize major projects with high R&D investment for inclusion in various key project databases, and give priority to allocating loans, electricity, water, land, and energy consumption and emission quotas. Incorporate R&D intensity into the comprehensive evaluation index system for high-quality county-level economic development, guiding all counties to strengthen high-quality development led by scientific and technological innovation.(Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Development and Reform Commission)

13. Leverage the Demonstrative and Leading Role of Innovative Cities. Municipal science and technology departments must attach great importance to total societal R&D investment. They should comprehensively employ methods such as policy outreach, follow-up services, and performance-based incentives to ensure that total societal R&D investment in each city maintains positive growth. Cities that have been approved to carry out the construction of National Innovative Cities should maintain R&D intensity at the forefront of the province; those whose annual R&D intensity declines will be subject to formal discussions. Cities striving to become National Innovative Cities should maintain an annual R&D intensity higher than the provincial average.(Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

14. Standardize the accounting of R&D investment. Provide follow-up services to enterprises above a certain scale, guiding them to properly establish foundational work such as R&D accounting accounts or subsidiary ledgers to ensure that R&D investment is recorded and accounted for separately, thereby fully reflecting the enterprise’s R&D investment status. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Science and Technology)

15. Improve the quality of R&D investment statistical services. In accordance with the R&D statistical system, regularly organize specialized training sessions on R&D investment statistics. Promote the use of enterprise R&D project information management systems to help enterprises improve their R&D investment accounting systems and enhance the level of information-based management of R&D investments. Strengthen enterprise accounting practices to ensure that all required accounts are established, all applicable expenses are recorded, and all relevant data is included in the statistics. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Bureau of Statistics)