Qingdao sets up fund to support science and technology innovation

The Qingdao municipal government announced the establishment of the science and innovation fund of funds (FOF) at the 2019 Global (Qingdao) Venture Capital Conference on May 9.

An FOF is an investment strategy in which there is a master fund investing in various other kinds of funds. This strategy involves investing in a portfolio that contains different underlying assets rather than direct investment in stocks, bonds and various other types of securities.

The establishment of the FOF will be a major measure of Qingdao's financial support of scientific and technological innovation.

The FOF, with total scale amounting to 50 billion yuan ($7.35 billion), has raised 12 billion yuan in its first stage, of which the Shandong provincial government contributed 20 percent, the Qingdao municipal government contributed 25 percent and social investors contributed 55 percent.  

Focused on hard and core technology, the FOF adopts a "fund + direct investment" strategy and market-oriented operation.

According to the Qingdao municipal government, the FOF is designed to support original innovation, achievement transformation and cultivation of high-end technology industrialization projects benchmarked against China's new science and technology innovation board.

The 2019 Global (Qingdao) Venture Capital Conference commences on May 9 in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Liu Jianjun, vice mayor of Qingdao, introduces detailed information of Qingdao Science and Innovation Fund of Funds at the 2019 Global (Qingdao) Venture Capital Conference on May 9. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]