According to the China Regional Science and Technology Innovation Evaluation Report 2023, Fujian has moved up one spot in the national regional science and technology innovation evaluation, now ranking 14th in the country. The report was discussed at a recent work meeting held by the Department of Science and Technology of Fujian Province on the 1st of this month. Fujian also ranks third in the country for the high-tech industrialization benefit index and fifth for the human input index for scientific and technological activities. In 2023, our province received 13 National Science and Technology Awards, with 5 of them being led by our province, setting a new annual record for the number of awards.
In recent years, our province has been actively promoting technology-enabled industries and accelerated the development of new quality productive forces. In terms of enhancing the fundamental source capacity for innovation, in 2023, our province received 975 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, totaling RMB 528 million, marking the highest number of approved projects in history. Additionally, the number of projects, funding rate, and funding amount from the Provincial Natural Science Foundation also reached record highs in 2023.
Focusing on comprehensive breakthroughs in the industrial chain, our province strengthens the research on key core technologies. In 2023, we took the lead in undertaking 33 national key R&D projects, securing over RMB 400 million in funding, marking a new historical record. In order to address the innovation needs of key industrial chains in our province, over 3,400 provincial-level scientific and technological research projects have been organized and carried out. These projects have successfully overcome various critical and core “bottleneck” technologies. CATL has made breakthroughs in key technologies for large lithium battery energy storage systems and promoted their application. Dongfang Electric Research Institute, Xiamen University, and Fuzhou University have respectively made breakthroughs in key core technologies of in-situ seawater direct electrolysis for hydrogen production, intelligent edge computing, and new quantum dot displays. The Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has established the first domestically produced, high-throughput, low-cost rice breeding gene typing system in China. Two scientific research achievements from Fuzhou University and Xiamen University have been successfully selected for the Top Ten Scientific Advances in China for 2023.
Enterprises are leading the way in the race for technological innovation. Our province is actively promoting the growth of technology-based companies, fully implementing the “double increase” initiative for high-tech enterprises, providing targeted guidance, and streamlining the certification process. Currently, the number of high-tech enterprises has grown to 14,561, marking a 20.5% increase compared to the previous year. Supporting enterprises in maximizing the benefits of favorable policies, our province saw its total additional deduction for R&D expenses surpass RMB 80 billion in 2023 for the first time, exempting RMB 17.7 billion income tax for high-tech enterprises.
Our focus now is on overcoming key obstacles in turning innovative outcomes into new quality productive forces. Last year, our province fully implemented reform of promoting job-related scientific and technological advancements. The construction of a public service platform for the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements across the province was accelerated, leading to a faster transfer and commercialization of such achievements. The total transaction value of technology contracts in the entire province has surpassed RMB 30 billion for the first time, reaching RMB 37.5 billion.
To promote new achievements in the integration of technology and industry, our province will prioritize deploying innovation chains around industrial chains this year. The focus will be on assisting top technology firms and other innovative companies in forming innovation consortia with industry, academia, and research partners. Support will be provided for enterprises to engage in collaboration with universities, research institutions, and provincial innovation labs to carry out order-based targeted R&D transformation and demonstration of results application. Additionally, it will implement a plan for enhancing the quality of high-tech enterprises, aiming to increase the number of national high-tech enterprises to over 15,000 through the “Increase Quantity and Improve Quality” initiative. Our province will enhance the implementation of research mechanisms such as the “Name-and-Claim” scientific research breakthrough mechanism, carry out over 10 significant scientific and technological innovation projects (engineering, platforms) each year, and expedite the engineering and industrialization of major technological advancements.