On January 2, the first working day of 2025, Guangzhou's Nansha district held the Technology Innovation and Industrial Development Conference, unveiling a comprehensive policy package aimed at reinforcing industrial and technological advancement. At the event, top 20 enterprises and top 30 high-tech firms were commended for their outstanding contributions in 2024.

"Several Policy Opinions on Deeply Implementing the Innovation-Driven Development Strategy to Cultivate New Drivers for High-Quality Development" unveiled at the event provides support and incentives for original innovation, technological innovation, the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and others, nurturing tech firms and cooperative innovation with Hong Kong and Macao SARs.

In accordance with the policies, financial rewards amounting to 5 percent of the annual R&D expenditure of enterprises will be offered, with the maximum amount reaching up to 3 million yuan. Newly identified (reexamined) "little giant" firms will get a one-time reward of 3 million yuan.

Meanwhile, Nansha introduced the "Double Growth Policy", which focuses on supporting pilot enterprises which achieve growth both in sizes and in profits. The policy encourages the phased cultivation of enterprises to meet corresponding growth targets while also providing holistic life-cycle support for enterprises to transform and upgrade to get stronger and better. 

Pilot enterprises aiming to double their scale will receive rewards of up to 3 million yuan based on their growth metrics. For companies that achieve their first production value milestones, Nansha will offer rewards of up to 20 million yuan. Additionally, collaborative procurement and synergistic development among enterprises will be incentivized with rewards of up to 3 million yuan.

In terms of enterprise transformation and upgrading, rewards of up to 5 million yuan will be provided to firms recognized as provincial or higher "Single Champions," national-level smart manufacturing demonstration factories, or green factories included in the national green manufacturing list.

"Cementing industry-academia-research collaborations will attract more innovative resources and talents to Nansha, enhancing our opportunities for product and technology upgrades," said Cai Yaowu, General Manager of Guang Zhou Hua Ling Air-conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd. Under the guidance of local government policies and industry support, Hua Ling Air-conditioning Equipment has embarked on a manufacturing transformation strategy, with annual production value growing from 6.5 billion yuan in 2018 to an expected 13.8 billion yuan in 2024. Cai expressed optimism that the implementation of the "Double Growth" policy will refine the surrounding industrial chain, further boosting the company's production capacity and overcoming development bottlenecks.