Dateline Shanghai. Well, we have to find a way to introduce a rare excursion into talking about tax credits for R&D in China.
Sure, as we have intimated elsewhere, things need fixing in China. But we can't ignore where they plan to be in R&D.
By one of those nice coincidences, we happened to be in Shanghai when the news broke that the Chinese State Council plans new tax credits to encourage businesses to invest in research. That's really just an excuse for writing about something that we might otherwise leave to our news team.
The reason for coming to Shanghai is also related to R&D, on behalf of a client who is big in research and getting bigger in China. (Who isn't? So no point in trying to work out who the client might be.) And the big story there is that such is the rush to establish R&D operations around Shanghai that any young scientists with a bit of flair and experience can double their salary just by threatening to move to another company.
The Xinhua news agency has the guts of the story on tax credits.
"According to the incentive policies, which are aimed at encouraging scientific and technological innovation, R&D expenditures can be deducted from annual tax returns at a rate of 150 percent."
The Xinhua news agency has the guts of the story on tax credits.
"According to the incentive policies, which are aimed at encouraging scientific and technological innovation, R&D expenditures can be deducted from annual tax returns at a rate of 150 percent."
"The State Council also urged the state taxation authorities to study and draft a uniform taxation policy that stimulates further coordination between research institutes and the industrial sector."
"Newly-established hi-tech enterprises in national hi-tech zones will be exempt from taxes for two years. After the period, hi-tech start-ups should only pay 15 percent of the taxes of traditional industries."
All round China is hot on tech. As well as companies they will also target "venture capitalists, science and technology intermediaries, non-profit organizations and individuals who are working on innovation-related activities".
We have already written about the rush to use tech spending as an economic weapon. China has joined Europe in setting targets for the percentage of GDP spent on R&D. China hast set 2.5 percent of GDP by the year 2020.
It may not be the 3 per cent that the EU has set in the Lisbon agreement. But it is more than twice the 1.23 percent of GDP that China spent on R&D in 2004.
Talking to people in China, it is pretty clear that they expect the country to build on the experience of others and to move more rapidly than Japan when it comes to setting the technology agenda.
We have already written about the rush to use tech spending as an economic weapon. China has joined Europe in setting targets for the percentage of GDP spent on R&D. China hast set 2.5 percent of GDP by the year 2020.
It may not be the 3 per cent that the EU has set in the Lisbon agreement. But it is more than twice the 1.23 percent of GDP that China spent on R&D in 2004.
Talking to people in China, it is pretty clear that they expect the country to build on the experience of others and to move more rapidly than Japan when it comes to setting the technology agenda.
Just one thing, devoid of anything interesting to watch on TV, we tuned into CNN. Can someone tell us what the story was on Wednesday about on a Chinese editor who got fired? For some strange accident of atmospherics, every time the story turned up, the screen went blank.
Of course, we have to hope that this story, written thanks to an excellent broadband connection from a hotel that must remain nameless, lands on your screen without too many blank bits.
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