Shenzhen, the southern Chinese tech hub, has implemented new rules to ensure that expensive scientific equipment and facilities are made available to the public as part of a push for fundamental research in the city.
Scientific equipment costing over 500,000 yuan (US$71,623) and funded by the government should be made available to individuals and organisations for research purposes, according to the Shenzhen government’s new rules on equipment sharing.
The policy, which is similar to practices undertaken in Beijing and Shanghai, aims to improve the efficiency of the city’s technology resources and capabilities, according to the Shenzhen government.
Shenzhen has 4,886 pieces of scientific equipment eligible for sharing, worth a combined 7.9 billion yuan, according to a report by state media People’s Daily. The use rate of the equipment in Shenzhen has reached 109.1 per cent, it added.
Institutions that manage the government-funded equipment and facilities will be reviewed according to their sharing efforts, and those that failed to open their resources to the public could face disciplinary action.
The equipment-sharing programme in Shenzhen will give priority to activities related to core research projects backed by national, provincial and municipal governments, as well as the pursuit of breakthroughs in key technologies. Small- and medium-sized tech companies and start-ups will also be given priority, according to Shenzhen’s rules.
The government also encourages the private sector to invest in large-scale research facilities, and the setting up of professional agencies to manage equipment sharing.
Shenzhen’s new move is part of the city’s effort to support fundamental research amid the intensifying tech war between China and the US. In October, President Xi Jinping set the course for China’s development over the next five years, emphasising technological self-reliance and sending a supportive message to the country’s information technology, artificial intelligence and new energy sectors.
A view of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge in Shenzhen, in China’s southern Guangdong province. Photo: AFP
Shenzhen, home to many of China’s Big Tech firms including Tencent Holdings, drone maker DJI Technology and Huawei Technologies Co, is known for its speed in product development in various fields such as mobile games, 5G wireless technology and consumer electronics.
However, its efforts in fundamental research have been overshadowed by other science hubs such as Beijing and Shanghai, especially given the southern city’s weaker base of higher education.
In 2019, Shenzhen decided to put more emphasis on pure research, aiming to invest 10 per cent of overall R&D expenditure into fundamental research by 2035.
Across China, the quantity of scientific equipment worth 500,000 yuan or more in universities and research institutions has reached 130,000, according to People’s Daily.
China originally set the rules for equipment sharing in 2014, which improved the availability ratio of open equipment in universities from less than 50 per cent to 90 per cent currently, and saved 13.9 billion yuan in expenditure by avoiding repeated purchases, according to the news report.