1. Technology Innovation Coupon

The Technology Innovation Coupon (TIC) is an incentive introduced by the government to encourage local companies to increase R&D spending, enhance their innovation capabilities and standardize "post-spending subsidization".

Eligible TIC candidates are technology companies registered in our city, with preference given to the companies placed under the "One Company, One File" management catalog.

The TIC is designed to: 1) encourage companies to order technology from foreign and domestic research institutes, institutions of higher education and national university science parks, through the form of "Contract R&D", or directly buy a technology from these organizations for commercialization; 2) encourage corporate R&D spending, technology commercialization and innovative activities such as R&D on key technologies; and 3) support SMEs to buy technology service from universities, R&D institutes and other technology platforms.

2. Incentives for Financial Institutions

1) Any bank, finance company, trust company, financial lease company, consumer finance company, securities trading company, futures company and insurance company that has been licensed by China's financial regulatory authorities and is incorporated in the city as an independent legal person, will be entitled to:
a. a lump-sum reward of RMB 1 million if its paid-in capital is equal to or below RMB 100 million;
b. a progressive reward if its paid-in capital ranges between RMB 100 million and one billion; or
c. a lump-sum reward of RMB 20 million if its paid-in capital is above RMB one billion.

2) Any venture capital or equity investment business that has been registered with the National Development & Reform Commission and Asset Management Association of China and is established as a partnership or a limited company will be entitled to:
a) a lump-sum reward of RMB one million if its paid-in capital and raised fund are equal to or above RMB 100 million;
b) a lump-sum reward of RMB two million if its paid-in capital and raised fund are equal to or above RMB 500 million; or
c) a lump-sum reward of RMB five million if its paid-in capital and raised fund are equal to or above RMB one billion.

The venture capital or equity investment company described in this provision shall be defined as a non-securities investment company (including equity investment and entrepreneurial investment companies) that raises funding from a particular group of investors in a non-public manner and invests in and provides value-added services to non-public companies. The venture capital or equity investment company may be registered as a limited company or a partnership, whose business is to manage and operate venture capital and equity fund. The registration, operation and custodianship of the venture capital or the equity investment company shall be located within the jurisdiction of the city and subject to the supervision and administration of relevant regulatory authorities.

The venture capital or the equity investment company that has received the reward shall not relocate from Kunshan within five years since its receipt of such reward.

3) Any license-holding institution dedicated to a particular business of the banking, securities or insurance sector that has been registered with or approved by the national financial regulatory authorities will be entitled to:
a. a lump-sum reward of RMB one million if its paid-in capital is below or equal to RMB 100 million;
b. a progressive reward if its paid-in capital ranges between RMB 100 and 500 million; and
c. a lump-sum reward of RMB five million if its paid-in capital is above RMB 500 million.

The license-holding institution dedicated to a particular business of the banking, securities or insurance sector, as described in this provision, shall be defined as the institution that has been approved or registered with the national financial regulatory authorities, is directly affiliated to its head office, holds an independent financial license and business license, handles cost accounting independently, and is dedicated to a particular business field.

4) Any financial institution that has set up a branch in the city will be entitled to a lump-sum reward of RMB 500, 000 to one million based on its institutional nature and size.

The branch of a financial institution described in this provision is defined as a prefecture-level branch of a bank, a securities (futures) company or an insurance company, or a business center, an operations center, a customer service center, a R&D center and other types of organization separately established and directly managed by such financial institution, and the working capital for such branch or center shall be no less than RMB 100 million.

The eligible enterprise pursuant to Provision 1, 2 or 3 will receive the reward paid in five years, each year with 20% of the amount.

3. Incentives for Corporate Headquarters

1) Reward for the size. The corporate headquarters whose status has been recognized will be entitled to a reward equivalent to 2% of its paid-in capital at a maximum amount of RMB 60 million. The reward will be paid in two parts: 30% will be paid in the year immediately following the year when the headquarters status is recognized; the remaining 70% will be paid when the headquarters has reached the criteria. If the registered capital is paid in installment, the reward will be assessed based on the actually paid-in capital and the difference shall be made up.

2) Reward for the contribution. The headquarters may apply for the contribution reward starting from the third year after the year when its headquarters status is recognized. The highest output value (turnover) since the headquarters status is recognized will be deemed as the base value. Every additional RMB 100 million in excess of the base value will entitle the headquarters to a reward of RMB 400,000, which shall be mainly spent on R&D, branding, marketing and HR development of the company based in the city.

4. Incentives for Logistics Companies

1) Incentive for fast-growing logistics companies. To encourage market development and fast growth of local logistics companies, Kunshan will provide policy support to those whose size and economic performance are improving fast and, after evaluation, will reward them with a certain amount of money.

2) Reward for large logistics companies. Any logistics company whose yearly turnover exceeds RMB 30 million for the first time will be entitled to a reward of RMB 100,000; RMB 50 million for the first time, RMB 200,000; RMB 100 million for the first time, RMB 400,000; RMB 200 million for the first time, RMB 800,000; RMB 300 million for the first time, RMB 1.2 million; and RMB 500 million for the first time, RMB 2 million.

An eligible logistics company can only be entitled to the reward of either provision 1 or 2.

3) To encourage logistics companies to build their own brands, the city will reward the logistics company that has been recognized by the state as an AAA-level company with a lump sum of RMB 200,000; AAAA-level, RMB 300,000; and AAAAA-level, RMB 500,000. For the logistics company that has achieved a higher level, the difference between the previous reward and the reward for the higher level will be paid as the reward for the upgrade.

4) To encourage expansion of their capacities, logistics companies will be entitled to a subsidy equivalent to 5% of the purchase price of specialized transport vehicles (such as box truck, container truck, refrigerator truck, tanker truck and tow truck).

The yearly total subsidy for a single eligible company shall not exceed RMB two million.

5. Incentives for Talent Attraction

1) The expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into a national talent program, such as 10,000 Experts Program, Recruit Program of Global Experts or Bai-Qian-Wan Experts Program (Entrepreneur Category), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 300,000; the expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into a national talent program, such as 10,000 Talent Program, Recruit Program of Global Experts or Bai-Qian-Wan Talent Program (Innovator Category), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 200,000.

2) The expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been recognized as an Innovative Team of Jiangsu Province, will be entitled to a reward of RMB 200,000.

3) The expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into the Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Program of Jiangsu Province (Category A), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 150,000; the expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into the Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Program of Jiangsu Province (Category B), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 100,000.

4) The expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into the Leading Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Program of Suzhou City (Entrepreneur Category), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 100,000; the expert that has been registered as a local resident and, upon the city's recommendation, has been selected into the Leading Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Program of Suzhou City (Innovator Category), will be entitled to a reward of RMB 50,000.

The resident status of an entrepreneur shall be jointly determined by three parties—the organization that recommends the candidate, the organization that employs the candidate, and the Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, before the registration of his/her business, while the resident status of an innovator shall be jointly determined by the same three parties before the registration of his employment contract with the Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security.