CNR Financial Commentary | Improve the Science and Technology Financial System to Make Money Flow "Smartly" Toward Innovation

Ask AI · Why Is the Science and Technology Finance System Shifting Toward a Stock-and-Bond Synergy-Driven Model?

The 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting, themed “Deep Integration of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation,” is not only a showcase for cutting-edge technology, but also an important window for observing China’s science and technology finance trends.

From the “14th Five-Year Plan” goal of “smoothing financing channels,” to the “15th Five-Year Plan Outline”’s mention of “building a science and technology finance system that is compatible with scientific and technological innovation”—the logic of the capital market serving scientific and technological innovation is shifting from “whether there is money to invest” to “whether the money can flow into scientific and technological innovation intelligently, patiently, and systematically.”

From “humanoid robots putting on a show in a group” at the CCTV New Year Gala for the Year of the Horse, to the “off-the-charts” “science”-tagged output at the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting… with new-industry technologies such as AI large models and humanoid robots iterating at a pace of thousands of steps per day, single equity financing can no longer meet the funding needs of science-and-technology-based enterprises throughout their entire life cycle. The “15th Five-Year Plan Outline” clearly calls for “supporting quality science-and-technology-based enterprises to go public for financing and issue bonds,” and for the first time includes “high-quality construction of the bond market’s ‘Technology Board’” as a national strategy. The policy focus is moving from the “solo offensive” of equity financing to the “two-wheel drive” of coordinated stock-and-bond development, providing more refined institutional supply for innovative enterprises.

What is worth noting is that the Beijing (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei) international science and technology innovation center support policies released by Zhongguancun Forum precisely respond to many of the deployments of the “15th Five-Year Plan.” The policy explicitly proposes “establishing and improving an evaluation and assessment mechanism for state-owned asset venture capital funds’ ‘long-cycle accounting’” and “supporting overseas asset management institutions to invest in science and technology innovation by setting up equity investment funds.” The former points to “patient capital”—by setting longer evaluation and assessment cycles, allowing state-owned capital to accompany enterprises as they cross the “valley of death” of innovation; the latter points to a capital link for “open innovation”—technology innovation has no borders, and capital also needs to be allocated internationally. This reflects the proper meaning of “capital market support for science and technology innovation”: not merely a provider of funds, but a co-builder of the innovation ecosystem.

On the evening of March 27, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges announced one after another that, after the “light-asset, high-R&D investment” recognition standards for the STAR Market and the ChiNext have been running smoothly for a long time, the application scope will be officially expanded to the main boards of both Shanghai and Shenzhen. A-share main board companies that meet the criteria can use refinancing to replenish liquidity beyond the limits for research and development investment, further improving the flexibility of refinancing.

From a more macro perspective, the capital market is undergoing a reform leap from a “resource allocation platform” to “a core hub supporting the modernization of the modern industrial system.” Whether it is supporting the listing of hard-tech enterprises that are not yet profitable, or promoting merger and acquisition funds to unblock exit channels, the underlying logic lies in enhancing the inclusiveness and adaptability of the system—so that technology can thrive within industry, and capital can realize value through innovation. (Niu Guyue, a financial commentator for China National Radio)