On the morning of 23rd January, the 2018 annual partners' meeting of National Scientific and Technological Major Project Achievements Transformation Fund was convened in SDIC Financial Building. All together more than 40 people attended the meeting, including directors from relevant departments of Ministry of Science and Technology like Office of Major S&T Projects, Department of Resource Allocation and Management and the Risk Center, concerned leaders from Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Yangpu District government and representatives from funds like Industrial Fund, Postal Savings Bank of China and China Life.
Mr. Shi Hongxiang, Deputy Secretary of SDIC Leading Party Group and President of SDIC met with some representatives before the meeting. Zhang Hua, Member of SDIC Leading Party Group and SDIC's chief accountant, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Pan Yong, SDIC's assistant president, the president of SDIC Gaoxin Industrial Investment Corp., Ltd and the president of SDIC Venture Capital, hosted the meeting. The manager of SDIC Venture Capital, Gao Aimin made a report about the fund's investment and operation conditions of 2017.
To better implement national strategy of scientific and technological innovation and advance the transformation of scientific and technological major project achievements, SDIC worked jointly with Ministry of Science and Technology to establish SDIC (Shanghai) Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation Venture Capital Fund, which raised 10 billion Yuan in the first round of funding. Over the course of this year, Major Project Fund focused on and arranged for a batch of national scientific and technological major projects and Sci-Tech Innovation 2030 Agenda, accelerating the development of innovative enterprises and strategic emerging industries, contributing to supply-side structural reform and attracting much attention from both the industry and society.
President Shi expressed congratulations on the opening of the 2018 annual partners' meeting. He said that as one of the first batch of the pilot state-owned investment companies, SDIC carries out a series of significant reforms to serve national strategies, and gives full play to state capital to take the lead in significant fields and key sectors. Through continuous exploration and accumulation, SDIC has gradually formed a unique operation mode of "equity investment-equity management-equity operation" and "combination of equity operation and capital operation". Currently, including the National Scientific and Technological Major Project Achievements Transformation Fund, SDIC manages 44 private equity investment funds with a total value of around 150 billion Yuan. After the conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, SDIC's Leading Party Group actively studied and implemented the spirit of the meeting. It also put forward SDIC Leading Party Group's Resolution on Holding High the Great Banner of Xi Jinping's Thought of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Serving National Strategy, Comprehensively Deepening Reform, Promoting high-quality development and Accelerating the construction of a World-class Capital Investment Company with Global Competitiveness, in which SDIC points out its investment should "strengthen the weak links that challenge people's good life, guide the development of new industries". It also puts forward a series of significant national strategies like service manufacturing power, healthy China, quality power, beautiful China, and the Major Project Fund is a vivid practice that correspond to the direction.
Zhang Hua expressed gratitude to the partners of the Major Project Fund for their trust and support. He pointed out that SDIC'S participation in setting up and managing Major Project Fund is innovative practice of organic combination of national strategies and market mechanism. He said that it's necessary to pick up the pace of major project achievements transformation through market mechanism, break through the obstacles in the system and mechanism that restrict the organic combination of industry, university, research and application, highlight the crucial role of market in resource allocation innovation, highlight the dominant role of enterprises' innovation and promote the accumulation of human, financial and material resources, so that the innovations can be transformed into productivity more quickly. As he said, the results achieved by Major Project Fund in the last year shows clearly the importance of the decision made by the Communist Party of China and the State Council of implementing the innovation driven development strategy and five-year plan for the country's scientific and technological progress. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the State Council and with the support from all the partners, the fund will definitely exert its advantages and provide a more powerful engine for technology innovation and industrial development so as to provide a more powerful impetus for China to struggle for industry dominance in the future.
The leaders and representatives present highly appreciated both the operation and management conditions during the past year. According to Chen Chuanhong, Director General of Office of Major S&T Projects, national scientific and technological major projects are the “Two Bombs and One Satellite” of the new era and it is a glorious mission to take part in the major projects in the form of Major Project Fund but we also bear great responsibilities. He hopes that the fund can arrange and invest projects reasonably, actively explore the science and technology institution innovation, manage and control risks, strictly observe the bottom line and actively explore the new mode of promoting the transformation of major project achievements in a market-oriented manner. Qiu Wenjin, Deputy Counsel of Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Ding Huanhuan, Member of the Standing Committee of Yangpu District and Deputy Chief Executive of Yangpu District, said in a speech that Major Project Fund should fully exert the leading role of the policy, help Shanghai to establish a science and technology innovation hub with global influence, make joint efforts to promote the transformation of achievements and promote win-win cooperation on a broader level. The other partner representatives spoke highly of the operation of the fund over the past year. They hope SDIC Venture Capital can make better use of the advantages of “fund national team”, raise the sense of mission and responsibility, continue to speed up the pace of investment, control risks effectively, actively gain brand influence, create more value for the investors and contribute to the better implementation of the innovation driven development strategy.
In 2017, Major Project Fund put the emphasis on advanced manufacturing, electronic information, energy and environmental protection and biological medicine, contributing to a batch of influential iconic projects of major project achievements transformation. In the field of advanced manufacturing and in the industries of integrated circuit manufacturing and key materials, it promoted the transformation of the achievements of “the project of manufacturing technology and complete sets of technology for very large scale integrated circuits”. Piotech invested by the fund is the only domestic supplier that can dependently research and develop as well as manufacture PECVD, the key large-scale equipment for producing film for integrated circuit. The project of JRH accelerates the process of replacing foreign semiconductor materials with home-made ones, providing powerful support for the implementation of nation’s strategies for the development of integrated circuit and also for transferring semiconductor industry to our homeland. In the field of electronic information, the fund focuses on artificial intelligence and information security, drives the transformation of achievements of project of “core electronic device, high-end flexible chip and basic software products” and the project of “‘the new generation of broadband wireless mobile communication networks”. The Cambricon Technologies Corporation invested by the fund has now developed into the first unicorn company globally in the field of AI chip, which is exemplary for China to promote the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in the cutting-edge fields like AI. It is possible for the 360 Enterprise Security project to tremendously contribute to the application and promotion of achievements of national scientific and technological major project in the security of cyber space. It is possible for the 360 Enterprise Security project to tremendously contribute to the application and promotion of achievements of national scientific and technological major project in the security of cyber space. In the field of energy and environmental protection, the fund pays attention to new energy industry, cultivates the industry chain of nuclear power and new energy vehicles and promotes the diversification process of energy supply. As one of the few providers of dynamic system of electric vehicles which have finished vertical integration, the project of Microvast is extremely advanced both in technology and market penetration. In the field of biological medicine, the fund mainly focuses on new drug innovation and promotes the transformation of achievements of “National New Drug Innovation Program”. Rongchang Pharmaceuticals is a leading pharmaceutical company which combines modern Traditional Chinese Medicine with the research and development as well as service of innovative biological drugs. The fund will provide support for it to develop the first domestic innovative biological drug to cure the autoimmune diseases and also to develop the first-of- its-kind antibody-drug conjugate antineoplastic. The project of KBP BioSciences focuses on developing new drugs for patients tortured by heart and kidney problems, infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses, inflammation and autoimmune disease. The project of Biocytogen focuses on the technology, products and industrialization of the gene targeting technology, which provides basic support for the development of new medicine.
The Major Project Fund sticks to market-oriented operation and specialized management, having realized good economic and social benefits. Besides, its investment performance meets expectation and some of the projects has appreciated dramatically. Meanwhile, the fund also actively serves and complies with the development strategy of civil-military integration, lays its emphasis on promoting poverty relief with transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Through fund raising and investment, the financial fund plays its role of guiding and leveraging social capitals to the full with the overall multiplication of capital reaching 15.
Background information: brief introduction to National Major Project Fund
The implementation of a number of major projects represented by “Two Bombs and One Satellite”, manned space and hybrid rice plays an important role in improving China’s comprehensive national strength. Countries like the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea all regard arranging and implementing major project plans based on national targets as an important measure for improving the comprehensive national strength.
Outline of the national medium and long term science and technology development program (2006-2020) decides a batch of prior themes of key areas and at the same time, focusing on national targets, it highlights the key points and screens out a number of major strategic products, key generic technologies and critical projects as major projects and gives full play to the market mechanism as well as one of the advantages of socialist system, that is to pool resources to undertake major national initiatives so as to make breakthroughs, try to achieve leapfrog development of productivity by scientific and technological developments and fill in gaps in national strategy. The basic principles of determing the major projects are as follows. First of all, combine the major demands for economic and social development and develop strategic products which can have a core independent intellectual property rights and play a crucial role in improving enterprises’ ability of innovation. Secondly, highlight the key generic technologies that have overall influence on the improvement of industrial competitiveness and also have a strong connection with other industries. Thirdly, solve the bottleneck that restricts the development of economic and social development. Fourthly, reflect the importance of military and civilian combination and combining military efforts with civilian support to safeguarding national security and improving comprehensive national strength. Fifthly, be suitable for our national conditions and make sure that the national strength can afford it. According to the above principles, it focused on developing high-tech industries, promoting the upgrade of traditional industries, solving bottlenecks that restrict the economic development, improving people’s health conditions and decided a batch of major projects. When it comes to the implementation of major projects, they are started one by one according to nation’s development needs and the maturity of the implementation condition. At the same time, according to our nation’s strategic needs and the change of the development situation, the major projects are adjusted dynamically and implemented step by step. To major projects whose goals are strategic products, we should give full play to enterprises’ leading role in research and development and investment, take the research and development of major equipment as the pointcut of technological innovation, allocate scientific and technological resources with market mechanism more effectively and make sure that nation's leading investments are mainly used to tackle key technologies.
The major projects which are major strategic products, key generic technologies and key projects finished within a certain period of time by breakthroughs in core technology and resource integration, are top priorities of our scientific and technological development. Outline of the national medium and long term science and technology development program determines the manufacturing technology and complete sets of technology of core electronic devices, high-end flexible chips, basic software and very large scale integrated circuits, 16 major projects like the new generation of broadband wireless mobile communication networks, high-end CNC machines and basic manufacturing technologies, the exploitation of great oil and gas field as well as coalbed methane, advanced large pressurized water reactor and high temperature gas cooled reactor nuclear power plants, control and governance of water pollution, breed of transgenic new species, development of major new drugs, prophylaxis and treatment of serious infectious diseases like AIDS and viral hepatitis, large aircrafts, high-resolution earth observation system, manned space and lunar exploration project which involve strategic fields like information and biology, major and pressing problems like energy, resource, environment and people health as well as civil-military technology and defense technology.