China invests over $56 billion to help science, technology firms

BEIJING: China today said its venture capital investors have pumped-in more than $56.8 billion to help science and technology companies in the country.

More than 1,600 business incubators are providing service for science and technology companies, Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology told a media briefing on the sidelines of the ongoing national legislative session.

China now has over 1,000 organisations investing in startups with capital exceeding 350 billion yuan ($56 billion), Wan said.

In 2014, total technology transaction volume reached 857.7 billion yuan, 15 per cent higher than the previous year.

"It is of great importance to let the market allocate resources and make market allocation play a decisive role in order to meet the need of high-tech business starters," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Wan as saying.

People should learn from original incubators, such as Garage Coffee in Beijing and Chaihuo Maker Space in south China's Shenzhen, to set up more platforms offering start-ups workplaces, networks, rooms for social and shared resources, Wan said.

He also asked to lower the threshold for the incubators, with preferential financial policies provided for the incubators.