New platforms to help the economy

A low-cost, all-around and specialized service to promote entrepreneurship and innovation has been pledged by the government as a new driving force for the Chinese economy.

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

The government will encourage underused industrial space and warehouses to be transformed into bases for entrepreneurship and innovation. It will also grant subsidies for office space, water and electricity supply and other facilities.

Efforts will be made to guide and encourage investment for small startups and entrepreneurs.

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

Premier Li Keqiang said at Wednesday’s meeting, “We should allow the policy to lean toward this new momentum, new industry, a new business model and develop a ‘new economy’.”

The meeting heard that setting up platforms for innovation and startups could provide low-cost, comprehensive and specialized services to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

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.

Zhang Yue contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn