China is going to transform and upgrade two existing research and development (R&D) centers in Shenzhen and Jiangsu province into national innovation centers, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The move is aimed at upgrading the country’s technologies in semiconductor packaging and medical device design.
Huajin Semiconductor Packaging Pilot Technology R&D Center Co Ltd, based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, will be transformed into the National Integrated Circuit Characteristic Process and Packaging Test Innovation Center.
Huajin was founded by the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and four industrial players in 2012. It then attracted five other shareholders including the National Development Fund.
Its R&D building covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters. More than 71 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain and about 300 talents have settled there.
It will be the first national innovation center built in Jiangsu province to work on new generation information technology industries.
Shenzhen High-Performance Medical Device National Research Institute Co Ltd will be transformed into the National High-Performance Medical Device Innovation Center.
Its shareholders include Mindray Bio, Lianying Medical, LifeTech, Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology and other industry players.
The new innovation center will focus on high-end medical imaging, in-vitro diagnosis and vital signs monitoring, advanced treatment, interventional device implantation, rehabilitation and health information and other key directions, focusing on the principles of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
It will help China’s medical device manufacturers to break through the bottlenecks in basic materials, core equipment and components, advanced processes and intelligent systems, according to the MIIT.
Opening up in Shanghai
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, said it will further open up China’s financial markets with a pilot scheme in Shanghai.
The scheme aims to encourage foreign financial institutions and large banks to set up wealth management joint ventures, support foreign companies to set up fund management firms and allow foreign insurers to set up fully-owned units in Shanghai.
In the past, foreign insurers had to partner with local insurers and could only own up to a 51% stake in their mainland unit.
The central bank will support overseas financial institutions to set up or invest in pension management companies in Shanghai. Multinational companies are encouraged to set up global or regional fund management centers in Shanghai.
Shanghai will also open up China’s bond markets by adding more channels for overseas institutional investors to enter the markets and encourage international organizations, foreign financial and non-financial companies to issue renminbi bonds.
The PBoC will also support multinational companies to set up fund management centers in Shanghai and allow them to enter China’s inter-bank bond market.
Company news
Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed company, said its total sales volume reached 105,500 units in April, up 2% from the same period last year and up 44% from March, according to a filing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Of the total sales volume in April, 5,439 units were new energy and electrified vehicles.
Last month, the company’s total sales volume in the China market grew 4% to 101,102 units from a year ago. Export volume was down about 38% year-on-year to 4,366 units. The company sold 43,067 sedans, 61,179 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and 1,222 multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) in April.
The total sales volume in the first four months of 2020 was 311,495 units, a decrease of 34% from the same period last year. The company has achieved 22% of its full-year sales volume target of 1.41 million units for 2020.
The Industrial Bank Co Ltd has issued the first 30 billion yuan (US$4.26 billion) of special financial bonds in the inter-bank market, including 23 billion yuan of three-year-bonds at a coupon rate of 2.17% and 7 billion yuan of five-year-bonds at a coupon rate of 2.67%.
The company will use the net proceeds to provide loans to China’s small and micro enterprises, helping them resume production and operations after the Covid-19 epidemic.
The story was written by Huang Wanyi and Yuan Tianyi and first published at ATimesCN.com.