Ministry of Science and Technology and six other departments: Accelerate the construction of a science and technology financial system to provide strong support for high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.

On May 14, the Ministry of Science and Technology and six other departments issued a policy document titled "Accelerating the Establishment of a Science and Technology Financial System to Support High-level Self-reliant Science and Technology Innovation". It mentioned the need to improve the support mechanism for the bond market to service technological innovation. The document proposed the establishment of a "technology board" in the bond market to promote the high-quality development of technology innovation corporate bonds, including incorporating high-quality enterprise innovation bonds into benchmark market-making varieties to encourage increased investment in technology innovation bonds by investors. It also proposed enriching the interbank bond market with technology innovation bond products and improving the financing support mechanism for technology innovation bonds. The document emphasized the role of credit derivatives in enhancing credit and increasing support for technology innovation companies, venture capital firms, and financial institutions issuing technology innovation bonds to raise long-term, low-interest, and easily accessible bond funds for technological innovation. Furthermore, the policy document also mentioned enhancing the support of capital markets for technology innovation companies. It proposed improving the system for new stock issuance by adjusting the issuance cycle to support eligible technology companies in financing for listing on the stock market. Emphasis was placed on supporting major technological breakthroughs and prioritizing the listing financing of technology companies that have achieved significant core technological breakthroughs. The document also aimed to continue supporting high-quality, non-profit technology companies with their initial public offerings, optimizing the merger and reorganization of technology-based listed companies and equity incentive mechanisms. It also suggested further utilizing the reform experiments of the Beijing Stock Exchange to improve the issuance and listing system for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the document proposed the development of policies to enhance the service capabilities of regional equity markets for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises. The document was jointly issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Date of the document: May 13, 2025. Pilot stock issuance, allowing the distribution of held shares of listed companies to investors through non-trading transfer. Encourage the development of private equity secondary market funds (S funds).The China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council have established a coordinated advancement mechanism for technology finance, strengthening departmental coordination, policy linkage, and information sharing in technology finance work. The People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology regularly organize meetings of the members of the advancement mechanism to research and formulate important policies, pilot projects, and organize implementation in technology finance, in order to promote the implementation and refinement of various policy measures. Conduct joint research on technology finance, strengthen policy promotion and interpretation, and jointly cultivate talent in technology finance. According to the existing mechanism, conduct macro policy orientation consistency assessment, technology innovation consistency review, and financial policy evaluation for major technology finance policies and measures formulated and introduced by various departments.This article is selected from the official website of the Ministry of Science and Technology, GMTEight editor: Xu Wenqiang.