Sichuan Province has officially introduced an empowerment voucher scheme aimed at supporting "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" small and medium-sized enterprises in leveraging regional equity market resources and professional services to strengthen their core competitiveness.
The Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology and the Sichuan Provincial Department of Finance jointly issued the Implementation Plan for the Empowerment Voucher Program for "Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative" Enterprises on the Special Board, officially rolling out the empowerment vouchers. The program combines government subsidies with market-oriented services.
The empowerment vouchers are issued in electronic form directly to enterprises on the special board and are universally redeemable across the province. Eligible recipients include enterprises that have already entered the "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" special board of the Sichuan regional equity market, as well as those that have passed the special board review and obtained the Board Entry Review Result Notice.
Each enterprise may apply once per year. Newly entered enterprises in the current year are entitled to an annual quota of 80,000 yuan, while existing board enterprises are entitled to an annual quota of 50,000 yuan. The empowerment vouchers are subject to an annual total volume control, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis until exhausted. The vouchers are valid for the natural calendar year in which they are issued and automatically expire thereafter. They are restricted to use by the applying enterprise only and may not be transferred, gifted, traded, pledged, or lent.
The empowerment vouchers can offset fees for four major categories of services, comprehensively covering the entire capital market cultivation chain from board entry compliance to pre-IPO sprint. Specifically, these include: enterprise special board entry service fees and board entry services such as equity (share) registration and custody; standardized governance services such as corporate governance training and policy consultation; financing consultation services; and listing cultivation services such as joint-stock reform, equity incentives, IPO diagnosis and valuation, listing path planning, the green channel for New Third Board listing, and specialized IPO training.
Enterprises on the special board and service institutions can log into the "Sichuan Provincial Enterprise Public Service Cloud Platform" — specifically the "Empowerment Voucher Service Zone" — to complete registration. After review and confirmation, enterprises submit materials online to apply for empowerment vouchers. Upon receiving services from registered institutions, they use the vouchers to offset service fees as agreed. After completing services, service institutions submit redemption applications, and funds are disbursed upon approval by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology.
As the entity responsible for building and operating the "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" special board, the Tianfu Equity Exchange Center under Chengdu Exchange Group will fully support enterprise board entry cultivation and the supporting services for the empowerment voucher policy. On one hand, it will conduct policy briefings and interpretations for enterprises on the special board, guiding them to make good use of the policy benefits of empowerment vouchers. On the other hand, it will continuously enrich the service offerings of the special board, pool capital market service resources, and provide comprehensive financial services including standardized governance, financing matchmaking, and listing cultivation. At the same time, leveraging the tiered cultivation system of the special board, it will promote deep integration between the empowerment voucher policy and special board cultivation, IPO incubation, and investment and financing matchmaking, helping more Sichuan "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises improve quality through standardization and grow stronger with the support of capital.
(Yang Mei)