The Shanghai municipal government released a host of measures on July 30 to create a sound environment for venture capital (VC) investment and build itself into a hub for VC investment with international competitiveness.

The 20 measures will go into effect on Aug 1. They will make use of various government investment funds, promote the joint development of VC, technology, and financial service systems, advance industrial development, and improve talent and policy services.

According to the guidelines, Shanghai will introduce qualified social capital to the field of VC investment, increase investment in hi-tech industries including integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence, and inject some vitality into the state-owned VC investment and optimizing industrial development policies.

As early as 2014, Shanghai announced a set of plans to accelerate the development of VC. Over the past five years, the metropolis has expanded the scale of VC investment and formed a strategy with government guided funds taking as the central component.