The Shandong province port city of Qingdao hopes to induce more fintech companies to set up shop locally by offering them a range of generous subsidies.
The Qingdao municipal government and the local branch of the Chinese central bank recently issued the “Guidance Opinions on Expediting Fintech Development” (关于促进金融科技发展的指导意见).
The Guidance Opinions outline a range of subsidies for qualified fintech enterprises to establish offices in Qingdao, including:
- A one-time subsidy of 3 million yuan for the establishment of fintech R&D, operations, testing and accreditation bodies in Qingdao by national regulatory departments and their corresponding associations and subsidiaries.
- A subsidy of up to 5 million yuan for the establishment of headquarters or subsidiaries in Qingdao by fintech enterprises. This subsidy will be calculated as 2% of paid-up registered capital.
- A subsidy of up to 3 million yuan for fintech enterprises whose value is estimated at more than 500 million yuan, and who have completed series B round funding. This subsidy will be calculated as 2% of paid-up registered capital.
The Guidance Opinions call for a focus on the development of fintech applications in areas including digital financial inclusion, rural village revitalisation, green finance, wealth management, the Industrial Internet of Things, digital renminbi trials, enterprise financing services, payments and settlement services, financial risk control and financial data applications.
They also call for “driving digital renminbi trial applications, strengthening infrastructure development and creating a digital renminbi ecosystem.”
This ecosystem will involve “broadening application scopes, innovation of application scenarios, making full use of the general and inclusive nature of th digital renminbi, and satisfy the continually increasing demands of the people when it comes to digital payments.”
