Let enterprises take the lead in the wave of technological innovation

Securities Times Reporter Han Zhongnan

The “14th Five-Year” period is a key time for fundamentally achieving socialist modernization and making comprehensive efforts, with technological innovation as the core element of developing new productive forces being placed in a more prominent core position. The “14th Five-Year” plan clearly states the need to accelerate high-level technological self-reliance and strength, leading the development of new productive forces, and has made deployments on strengthening original innovation and tackling key core technologies. Among them, new proposals such as “strengthening the leading role of enterprises in technological innovation” and “establishing an enterprise R&D reserve fund system” have drawn particular market attention.

The “14th Five-Year” plan proposes to strengthen enterprise-led integration of industry, academia, and research, with a focus on the word “leading.” In the past, cooperation between industry, academia, and research often involved universities or research institutions posing questions and enterprises answering them, or enterprises funding research at institutions. Although there has been a trend towards integration, efficiency remains low in practice due to misaligned goals.

Now, emphasizing the leading role of enterprises in technological innovation means encouraging enterprises to “pose questions” based on real industrial needs, with leading technology enterprises forming innovation consortia that organically link the advantages of basic research in universities, the original innovation capabilities of research institutions, and the market sensitivity of enterprises. Enterprises must not only take the lead in technological innovation but also accurately target market demands, achieving precise alignment between the innovation chain and the industrial chain.

Using the policy system as institutional support serves as the “ballast stone” for solidifying enterprises’ increased investment in technological innovation. The “14th Five-Year” plan proposes to strengthen the supply of inclusive policies to create a favorable environment for enterprise innovation. Specific measures include: increasing the proportion of additional deductions for enterprise R&D expenses, establishing an enterprise R&D reserve fund system, and constructing a high-quality bond market “technology board,” among others.

Many enterprises have enthusiastically responded to the establishment of the R&D reserve fund system. For a long time, some enterprises’ R&D investments have been constrained by operational fluctuations, investing more when they have money and less when they do not. The core of the R&D reserve fund system lies in guiding enterprises to transform their R&D investments into “strategic reserves.”

Through institutional arrangements, enterprises are encouraged to make advance provisions based on development plans and to earmark funds for specific uses, ensuring that major technological breakthroughs have a continuous and stable source of funding. This not only affirms enterprises’ long-term investment but also is an important measure to enhance the stability of the national innovation system. When every enterprise aiming for innovation can stockpile sufficient “ammunition,” the micro-foundation for technological self-reliance and strength will become more solid.

The transition of technological achievements from the laboratory to the production line often involves a “daring leap.” The “14th Five-Year” plan profoundly realizes the important bridging role of enterprises.

Whether encouraging leading technology enterprises to open research conditions and application scenarios to small and medium-sized enterprises or guiding universities and research institutions to license technological innovation results to small and medium-sized enterprises under a “pay after use” model, the underlying logic is to leverage enterprises’ keen market perception advantages, allowing technology supply to be tested on the industrial front line, enabling innovative products to iterate and upgrade in real scenarios, and transforming enterprises into a smooth channel from “shelves” to “storefronts.”

When enterprises thrive, the economy thrives. When enterprises truly take the lead in the wave of technological innovation, when innovative resources accelerate to concentrate in enterprises, and when institutional guarantees safeguard enterprise innovation, the “blooming of multiple points” in technological breakthroughs will create a “garden in full spring” for the development of new productive forces.

(Author: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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