National Scientific and Technological Major Project Achievements Transformation Fund jointly established by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and SDIC embodies the critical role of market in resource allocation and manifests the advantages of the new state-run system under the condition of market economy. Giving full play to its demonstration and leading role, the fund, which is now one of the significant forces for our country to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, has hatched and cultivated a batch of influential achievements and heightened the confidence of all sectors to participate in the transformation.

"It only took Cambricon a few years to realize leapfrog development and take the lead in the field of AI chip. Its young entrepreneurial team has sense of mission as well as responsibility and the driving effect of its scientific and technological achievements on the whole industry is inspiring!"

That is what Chen Chuanhong, Director of Major S&T Projects Office, said on the morning of March 9 when he investigated Cambricon.

To better promote the transformation of national scientific and technological major project achievements and further improve the innovative service ability of the fund when it organizes and carries out work, the delegation which included Chen Chuanhong, Director of Office of Major S&T Projects and Xie min, Director of National Center for Science & Technology Evaluation, accompanied by Gao Aimin, the general manager of SDIC Venture Capital and so on, visited and investigated some Beijing enterprises invested by National Science and Technology Fund.

As Chen Chuanhong pointed out, national scientific and technological major projects are the “Two Bombs and One Satellite” of the new era. From the full-scale tracking at the very beginning to the new pattern of the coexistence of "leading the pack, keeping pace and following others", they have given rise to a batch of inspiring major breakthroughs which attracts world attention, seized the commanding height in some key core fields and has also opened up a new direction for industrial development, becoming a key driver for our country to implement the innovation driven development strategy and promote supply-side structural reform. According to him, National Scientific and Technological Major Project Achievements Transformation Fund jointly established by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and SDIC embodies the critical role of market in resource allocation and manifests the advantages of the new state-run system under the condition of market economy. Giving full play to its demonstration and leading role, the fund, which is now one of the significant forces for our country to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, has hatched and cultivated a batch of influential achievements and heighten the confidence of all sectors to participate in the transformation. He also stressed that time is ticking away before the acceptance of major projects in 2020 and its not only arduous but also of great responsibility. Both the National Science and Technology Fund and the invested enterprises have to raise their sense of mission and responsibility, enhance collaboration, target landmark achievements and spare no efforts to win the fight, so as to contribute to the earlier implementation of innovation driven development strategy and the construction of an innovative country.

Companies investigated this time like Cambricon, Chipone and Biocytogen not only have advantages but also take the lead respectively in the fields of AI chip, integrated circuit chip IC design and R&D as well as service of biomedicine.

With its team from Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Cambricon has managed to develop the world’s first deep-learning processing unit, which surpasses traditional processing unit in dealing with intelligent algorithms in an all-around way and has created many “first” in the field artificial intelligence chip R&D. Many core members of Cambricon once participated in the R&D of project Loongson, which belongs to the project of “core electronic device, high-end flexible chip and basic software products”, so they are not only of profound academic accumulations but also quite experienced in practice. With the support of Cambricon, Huawei’s HiSilicon launched the world’s first AI cellphone chip and also managed to manufacture tens of millions of them, becoming the first startup in the field of intelligent chip that realizes industrialization. Driven by the investment of National Science and Technology Fund, Cambricon is quickly accepted by the market and becomes the world's first AI chip unicorn company. It plays an irreplaceable role in industrial ecology of AI and is expected to be a new landmark achievement of China in this field. 

As the world's leading display-control-chip overall solutions provider, Chipone, whose clients cover all the major panel manufacturers in the world, is equipped with kernel technologies of the display panel ICs, independent intellectual property rights and the whole product line layout. With years of accumulation of technology, Chipone has now formed its four product lines of mobile display, panel display, LED display and environmental friendly lightning. In 2016, Chipone Technology successfully acquired IML, a world-leading company in the field of power management IC design. Therefore, it not only enhances its competitive advantages, but also reveals its great ability in global technology integration. Supported by National Science and Technology Fund, Chipone will catch the historical opportunity of the rise of domestic panels and smart terminal industry, as well as the opportunity of industry change, further increase the R&D investment into ITD, Ultra-HD driver IC for large panels and OLED driver IC, strive to fill gaps of high-end chips in China’s panel and IC industries, and overtake the foreign competitors.

Taking full advantage of the experience gained by its entrepreneurial team during the R&D of model animal in both China and the United States, Beijing Biocytogen Co., Ltd. establishes world-leading platforms respectively for R&D of genome-edited model animals, large-scale reproduction and supply of animal model of important diseases and antibody discovery as well as evaluation of pharmacological efficacy of drugs for tumour, providing services like the discovery of drug targets, animal model and efficacy verification during the development of new drugs. Eucure Biopharma was set up based on the profound accumulations of Biocytogen in the field of genome-edited model animal. It’s dedicated to services like R&D, technology transfer of Immune Checkpoint Proteins and other immune protein antibodies and can develop tumour antibody drugs efficiently. Both of the companies show unique innovation value in supporting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in the field of new drug development.

The investigation team listened to the reports made by the directors from all the enterprises on R&D of technology and product, application on the market and undertaking as well as providing service for national major S&T projects. According to the representative of SDIC Ventue, National Science and Technology Fund expands the reach of investment in specialized spheres, exploits the value and capacity of innovative enterprises and accelerates the realization of transformation of achievements of major projects. They also had a discussion to exchange ideas on how to give full play to market mechanism, how to coagulate landmark achievements of major projects and how to help achievements of major projects to strike roots.