Chengdu sets up innovation fund

The Chengdu city government has established a 50 million yuan ($7.7 million) fund to reward winners of major research prizes to start their businesses in the capital of Sichuan province.

Up to 100 million yuan could be granted to a research team, according to the government as it pushes hard to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

Chengdu will issue five-year residency certificates and five-year, multi-entry visas for award-winning foreign talent — and their spouses and children — who agree to set up startups in the city, said Jing Bin, head of the city's human resources office.

Researchers whose firms maintain a presence in the city for over five years and contribute to the city's economic and social development are in line to receive a financial reward of 1 million yuan, he said.

The city's new policy stresses that the fund is for international and domestic talents.

Each year, Chengdu will select around 100 talents, such as local university students, who have established innovative startups, and provide each of them up to 200,000 yuan, Jing said.