New platforms to help the economy

A low- cost, all- around and specialized service to promote entrepreneurship and innovation — the new driving forces for the economy — has been pledged by the government, according to a government statement released on Thursday.

The initiative was announced during a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

The statement said the government will encourage idle factories and warehouses to be transformed into bases for entrepreneurship and innovation, with government subsidies for rent, utilities and Internet access.

Priority will be given to information technology, high- end equipment manufacturing and modern agriculture, the statement said.

The government will encourage venture capital investment in these bases, and will provide policy support in taxation, intellectual property rights and in other fields.

Technical workers will be supported at these bases and in starting businesses.

They will be given preferential policies for intellectual property applications, for achieving transformation and for promotional efforts.

Wednesday’s meeting heard that setting up platforms for innovation and startups could provide lowcost, comprehensive and specialized services to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

The platforms will help to upgrade the real economy and to establish a favorable environment to solve the problem of overcapacity.

The concept of mass entrepreneurship and innovation was included in the Government Work Report last year.

Xu Hongcai, director of the Economic Research Department at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said such measures show that the government has acted to create a policy and social environment favoring entrepreneurship and innovation.

“This will have a positive effect on solving employment problems and fostering new economic growth points,” Xu said.

The State Council also approved a draft regulation on the management of the national pension fund.

The regulation states that the fund, composed from the central government budget, State- owned capital and investment returns, is designed to contribute to spending on social security and insurance payments and to address the problems of an aging population.

It also clarifies the rules for the fund’s investment operation, supervision and risk management.