Zhongguancun gives loans on intellectual property collateral

High-tech startups in China's Zhongguancun innovation hub in Beijing need no longer worry about financing even if they have few fixed assets, thanks to the recently launched Zhirongbao, the nation's first intellectual property-pledge loan service that has no strings attached.

Jointly developed by the Beijing Intellectual Property Operations Management Co Ltd and China Construction Bank's Zhongguancun subsidiary, the service allows startups to use their intellectual property as sole collateral, without the need to combine other assets or credit.

When a company applies for Zhirongbao, Beijing IP will appraise the applicant with the bank and evaluate its intellectual property with evaluation agencies.

The service provides a fast processing mechanism for financing projects that are worth no more than 5 million yuan ($760,000), and can approve the loans within 15 days.

When a company repays the loan, it can apply for a grant from the government of Hai-dian district, where Zhongguancun area is located, worth half of the loan with a ceiling of 1 million yuan.

The Haidian government and Beijing IP also have launched a 40 million yuan risk disposition capital pool along with the service.

Shao Shunchang, general manager of Beijing IP, said at the service's unveiling ceremony on Friday that small high-tech companies have found it challenging to acquire loans by pledging only their intellectual property, because their financing needs are out of line with the banks' need for risk control.

"IP is difficult to evaluate, deposit and liquidate," he said.

Zhirongbao is a "tailor-made financial product" for small high-tech companies, said Wang Xinli, deputy director of CCB's Beijing branch.

"The assets of the small high-tech companies are mostly intangible, so we have changed the traditional financing concept that emphasizes fixed assets and financial analysis and developed the product by seeking the companies' advantages and cooperating with the government and third-party professionals," Wang said.

"Zhirongbao has combined the efforts of the government, the professional IP management platform and the bank to serve companies," he added.

The service system also involves six IP agencies and three investment institutions, providing IP services and financial support.

The first 12 companies using the service signed contracts at the unveiling ceremony.

The service is the result of "a valuable attempt by related organizations to solve the financing difficulty of high-tech companies and innovate IP financing services", said Meng Jingwei, deputy director of the Haidian district government.

"With the advance of the national innovation strategy, Haidian will use its advantageous resources in technology and education to continue its policy innovation in fields including IP financing and commercialization," he said.

As an innovation-intensive district, Haidian had 117 invention patents for each 10,000 residents by the end of 2015, nearly 30 times higher than the national average.

Only companies in Haidian can apply for the service this year during its pilot operation. It will be open to all the industrial parks administered by Zhongguancun in 2017 and expand to Tianjin and Hebei province in 2019.

It is designed to serve more than 1,000 companies by the end of 2020.

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn