On October 16, 2017, Shanghai Municipal People’s government circulated the Several Opinions on Further Supporting Foreign-Invested Research and Development Centers to Participate in Shanghai’s Construction of a Science and Technology Innovation Center with Global Influence (Hu Fu Fa [2017] No. 79, hereinafter “Opinions”), which can be regarded as a policy 2.0 to promote the establishment and development of foreign-invested research and development centers (“R&D Centers”) following the issuance in 2012 of the Several Opinions of Shanghai Municipality on Encouraging the Establishment of Foreign-Invested Research and Development Centers by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality and the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission.
The Opinions contain 16 sections, and provide numerous and unprecedented support policies for R&D Centers, which focus on the following aspects: