"USTC Silicon Valley" in Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/xuexi.cn]

Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone recently issued a raft of policies in the financial sector to boost the development of small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises.

The policies consist of 30 specific measures in nine areas, including institutional clustering, business innovation, cost reduction, fund investment, capital market development, free trade innovation as well as the introduction of more talented personnel.

Currently, there are over 60,000 enterprises in Hefei high-tech zone and more than 90 percent are small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises.

Compared with traditional companies, sci-tech enterprises are generally asset-light, meaning the current financial system cannot fully adapt to their specialized, personalized and refined financial needs.

Hefei high-tech zone will give rewards of up to 50 million yuan ($7.17 million) to any financial headquarters, regional business headquarters, operational headquarters or other specialized institutions and functional service institutions that opt to settle there. 

The same incentives will be granted financial auxiliary service institutions in the science and innovation fields that choose to make the zone their home.

Hefei high-tech zone will also attract influential fund management institutions from around the world to settle in what has been dubbed the "USTC Silicon Valley" – its core area – as it strives to reach a fund management scale of 300 billion yuan.

Efforts will also be made to establish a government-guided fund with a total scale of no less than 10 billion yuan over the next five years. Moreover, an angel investment risk reserve will be set up to offer each institution a maximum of 5 million yuan.

At the same time, talented personnel, innovative projects, science and technology firms and other resources are encouraged to make a base in Hefei high-tech zone, with subsidies or funding of up to 300,000 yuan available.