The Blockchain Industrial Park in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou has announced subsidies for startups worth millions of dollars, in an announcement Thursday, May 24.
As shown by the new policy, the industrial park is aiming to attract blockchain space talent by offering individuals and startups generous incentives. Highly-qualified blockchain specialists, for example, are being offered resettlement allowances of up to $490,000 and MA and PhD maintenance grants.
Startups will also be able to avail themselves of maintenance grants alongside project-specific funding. These include $230,000 in rent assistance and $1 mln for research and development for early stage blockchain startups, with more advanced startups receiving up to $480,000 for housing and $780,000 for research.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, a $1.6 bln blockchain innovation fund was announced during the park’s opening in April this year, with 30 percent of the total funds notably coming from local government. A research institute was also established in April to provide academic support for the development of blockchain tech in Hangzhou.
While outlining extensive and available funding, the new subsidy guidelines do not yet indicate specific criteria which must be met for candidates to apply to benefit from the initiative.
Although Chinese government policy remains notoriously tough on cryptocurrency trading, momentum in China’s blockchain space has been gathering pace in recent months. In March, a government memorandum was leaked detailing plans to create an “International Blockchain Investment Development Center,” and in February, news broke of a patent filed by the state-run Bank of China for a solution to scale blockchain technology systems.
Earlier this year, Beijing-based retail giant JD.com announced the first four startups selected for its own Al Catapult Blockchain incubation program. Last month, a $79 mln Blockchain venture capital fund to support local Blockchain startups was announced at Shenzhen city’s Blockchain Expo.