Take advantage of dual drivers, namely “scenario verification” and “digital empowerment” to pursue innovation of policies for small and medium-sized enterprises to accelerate the formation of new productive forces. According to the Detailed Rules and Regulations on Implementation Plan for Accelerating High-quality Development of Digital Economy (fields required for development and reform) recently released and printed by Qingdao, a scenario application laboratory can be entitled to a maximum of RMB 5 mln in equity investment, and a digital transition and empowerment center in key industries can be granted up to RMB 1.4 mln subsidies on a yearly basis.

Scenario verification laboratories refer to test spaces and composite carriers where new technologies, types of business and patterns are subject to scenario testing and model verification. To date, Qingdao has certified 82 scenario application labs of all kinds and issued RMB 35 mln’s worth of “scenario bonus” to help businesses make breakthroughs in verification of their achievements and introduce advanced management philosophies and high-efficiency market mechanisms to unleash business creation and vitality.

Key industry digital transition empowerment centers catering to a wide range of sectors function like municipal level “hospitals” which can “prescribe” for small and medium-sized enterprises across all industrial chains. To date, Qingdao has certified 20 empowerment centers, which have provided digital transition analysis and consulting services to a combined total of more than 2,600 enterprises, and greatly helped an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises get involved in the tide of digitalization.  (Yang Guang)