Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Promotion of Software Industry

· Document Number：Announcement No. 135 of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People’s Congress of Jiangsu Province

· Area of Law： Science and Technology

· Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations

· Date issued：05-30-2007

· Effective Date：07-01-2007

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Jiangsu Province People's Congress (incl. Standing Committee)

Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Promotion of Software Industry
(Adopted at the Thirtieth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People's Congress of Jiangsu Province on May 30, 2007)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are enacted in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, in light of the actual situation of this Province and for the purposes of promoting the development of software industry in this Province and enhancing the creativity and competitiveness of the software industry.
Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to such activities conducted within the administrative region of this Province as software development, design, production, sales, services, education and training, and software and information services outsourcing.
Article 3 The software industry is a basic, pilot and strategic industry in the national economy. This Province gives priority to the development of software industry.
Article 4 The Provincial People's Government shall be responsible for formulating the development strategies, planning and policies for software industry of this Province to promote the development of the software industry. The coordinating organization established by the Provincial People's Government for promotion of the development of software industry shall coordinate important issues in the development of the software industry.
For regions where conditions are met for the development of software industry, the people's governments of cities divided into districts, counties (cities, districts) and their relevant departments shall, according to the provincial strategies and planning for software industry development and in light of the actual situations of the respective regions, take specific measures to promote the development of software industry of the regions.
Article 5 The provincial competent information industry department shall strengthen administration and supervision on the software industry of this Province, and, in conjunction with the relevant departments, organize the implementation of the relevant policies on speeding up the development of software industry, coordinate to solve issues in the development of software industry, and conduct inspection and supervision on the implementation of state and provincial policies and measures on promotion of software industry.
The provincial departments such as the departments of development and reform, science and technology, finance, taxation, education, personnel, labor and social security, economic and trade, foreign trade and economic cooperation, public security, copyright, intellectual property shall, according to the division of functions and duties, do well their work relevant to the promotion and safeguard of the development of software industry.
Article 6 The local people's government at or above the county level shall commend and award the units and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the development of software industry.
Chapter II Talent Guarantee
Article 7 The local people's government at or above the county level and its departments such as information industry, education and personnel shall, in light of the actual situation of the region and the need for development of software industry, formulate policies and measures for promoting the cultivation of software talents, increase the input in the cultivation of software talents, and give priority to the cultivation of software talents of intermediate and advanced levels such as backbone technicians and project management personnel.
Article 8 The provincial competent information industry department shall, in conjunction with the departments of personnel, education, labor and social security, conduct research on demand and supply information of software talents and forecast and release such information, with a view to providing decision-making basis and information services for cultivation and introduction of software talents.
Article 9 The provincial competent education department shall formulate planning for cultivation of software talents, enlarge the scale of software talents cultivation, optimize the cultivation mode, raise software education and teaching level, and cultivate various software talents to meet the needs of the society.
Article 10 It is encouraged and supported to construct model software colleges and software vocational and technical colleges. State model software colleges or state model software vocational and technical colleges will be supported by the competent financial department and education department in terms of financial input and development policies.
Where a software college or a software vocational and technical college set up by an institution of higher learning under the leadership of this Province or a city needs to enlarge the enrollment scope and meets the conditions, the provincial competent education department shall render its support.
The provision in the preceding paragraph shall also apply to the software colleges or software vocational and technical colleges independently set up within this Province.
Article 11 Institutions of higher learning and scientific research institutes are encouraged to run schools cooperatively with software enterprises and adopt various forms to enlarge the scale of cultivation of high level, inter-disciplinary and practical software talents.
The provincial competent education department and other relevant departments shall render support in terms of fund, project input and cultivation plans and in the procedures of examination and approval.
Article 12 The departments such as the information industry, education, personnel, labor and social security shall strengthen the construction of experimental and training bases for software talents and construct key training bases for students of software specialty.
Article 13 Social forces are encouraged and supported to train practical software talents. The local people's government at or above the level shall award the enterprises, scientific research institutes or other social forces that have made outstanding contributions in the field of technical training.
Article 14 Where the high-level software technical personnel of this Province go abroad for training or further education, or foreign software experts are invited to lecture or work in this Province, the provincial personnel and education departments shall give them financial support according to the relevant provisions.
Article 15 Software enterprises shall, according to the provisions in the laws and regulations on vocational education and continuing education for professional and technical personnel, strengthen the vocational education and on-job training for their staff members, support their in-service staff members to pursue academic degrees relevant to software specialty, and increase their research and development ability. The staff training fees of the software enterprises can be listed as expenditure at the amount that actually occurs before the enterprise income tax is collected.
Article 16 The local people's government at or above the county level and its departments such as the personnel, science and technology, information industry shall, according to the planning for software industry development and the need for software talents, formulate plans for introducing software talents, support software enterprises to introduce high-level software technical and management personnel from both at home and abroad, and coordinate to solve specific issues in talents introduction.
Emphasis of the Province's special fund for introduction of advanced entrepreneurial and innovative talents shall be placed on the support for introduction of leading talents influential in the software industry at home or abroad. Those who successfully introduce leading software talents may be awarded by the local people's government at or above the county level.
Article 17 A professional technician in an institution of higher learning, a vocational and technical institute or a scientific research institute may, under the precondition of finishing his own job and not impairing the proper interest of his unit, engage in activities of transforming software technical achievements and providing services, or set up software enterprises in his part time, unless otherwise provided by the State.
Article 18 The software enterprises may award their operation and management personnel and technical personnel with stock options.
State-owned and state-controlled software enterprises may draw an amount of not more than 35% of the of net asset appreciation of the current year to award their backbone management and technical personnel in the form of stock options.
Article 19 When handling a labor dispute arbitration case concerning software industry, the labor dispute arbitration committee may appoint as arbitrators the staff members from the software industry administration departments, personnel from software industry associations, software technical personnel and law experts.
Chapter III Protection of Intellectual Property
Article 20 The local people's government at or above the county level and its relevant departments shall strengthen publicity and education in software intellectual property protection, enhance the whole society's awareness of software intellectual property protection, and guide the whole society to consciously respect and protect software intellectual property.
Article 21 The state organs, enterprises and institutions, and other organizations of this Province shall use genuine software copies.
Citizens of this Province shall consciously resist using pirated software copies. Whoever discovers the production and sale of pirated software copies shall have the right to report to the departments such as the copyright administration department.
Article 22 The copyright administration department shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments, strengthen administrative protection on software intellectual property, and deal with software infringement activities according to law.
The judicial organs shall strengthen judicial protection on software intellectual property, punish the criminal acts of software intellectual property infringement according to law, and impartially handle civil cases concerning software intellectual property.
Article 23 Software copy right owners are encouraged and supported to register their copy rights according to law; the provincial copy right administration department shall provide services to software copy right owners in their registration and rights protection.
Citizens, legal persons and other organizations of this Province may, after completing the registration of software copy rights or software products, apply to the provincial competent information industry department for financial support in full amount equivalent to the total amount of relevant fees. In regions where conditions permit, awards may be given to the citizens, legal persons or other organizations of this Province that have completed the registration of software copy rights or software products.
Software enterprises are encouraged and supported to apply for patent in other countries or regions.
Article 24 The provincial quality and technical supervision department shall, in conjunction with the provincial competent information industry department, support software industry associations and software enterprises to participate in the formulation of international and domestic software standards and in the promotion and application of such standards.
Article 25 The software industry associations may organize software enterprises to establish a coordination mechanism for software protection so as to protect the intellectual property of software enterprises.
Article 26 The software enterprise and its employees may stipulate a confidentiality clause in the labor contracts or sign a confidentiality contract separately.
The employees of software enterprises shall, according to the provisions in the laws and regulations, or agreements in the contracts, bear the obligation to keep the relevant trade secrets for the software enterprise they are working for or they worked for.
Article 27 The software enterprise may stipulate according to law a restrictive clause not to engage in competing business in the labor contracts or confidentiality contracts with its high-level management personnel, high-level technical personnel and other employees with access to its trade secrets, or they may sign a special restrictive contract not to engage in competing business. The restrictive clause or contract shall stipulate clearly the scope and time limit for restriction not to engage in competing business, and stipulate the correspondent economic compensations according to law.
An employee who bears the obligation of restriction not to engage in competing business shall abide by the stipulations on restriction, and within a certain period of time after he leaves the enterprise, shall not engage in operating, for himself or for others, competing products or business of the same type as those of the enterprise he worked for.
Chapter IV Services and guidance
Article 28 The local people's government at or above the county level and the relevant departments shall strengthen the application and spreading of information technology in all fields of national economy and social development, organize the implementation of model projects for software industrialization, promote informization of agriculture, industry, and service industry, and expand the market demand for software products and software services.
Article 29 Software enterprises are encouraged and supported to undertake software outsourcing business, and to explore international market of software outsourcing business.
Enterprises undertaking software outsourcing business enjoy the national and local policies on promoting service outsourcing development.
Article 30 The local people's government at or above the county level, its departments of information industry, foreign trade and economic cooperation, and personnel, and organizations such as the software industry association and commercial chambers for import and export, may organize software enterprises to go abroad to recruit talents, undertake business, attend exhibitions, and do work of publicity and promotion.
The staff members of the software enterprises who need go abroad on business frequently, may be examined and approved once for multiple times of going abroad within one year; the staff members of the software enterprises who need to and back from go to Hong Kong or Macao frequently, may apply for going through the procedure of multiple-trip to and back from Hong Kong or Macao within six months or one year.
Article 31 Software enterprises are encouraged and supported to apply for relevant national or international appraisal and authentication.
The certified software enterprises registered in the Province which have passed national or international authoritative appraisal and authentication may receive financial aid or rewards according to the relevant provisions,.
Article 32 The local people's government at or above the county level shall take measures to support the construction and development of software industrial gardens. Institutions of higher learning, science and technology institutions, and enterprises of various forms shall be encouraged to take part in the construction of software industrial gardens.
The competent information industry department shall, in conjunction with other departments such as the department of science and technology, promote scientific planning, rational layout, and standard management for software industrial gardens, and give full play to the driving and conglomerating effects of software industrial gardens.
Article 33 The software industrial gardens shall actively guide the software enterprises in the garden to engage in the business of software development, production, service provision and exporting, foster small and medium-sized software enterprises with technological characteristics, support large-sized key software enterprises, strengthen the software talents training, and provide comprehensive services such as technology and information consultation.
Article 34 The local people's government at or above the county level and the relevant departments shall strengthen the infrastructural construction of software industry, and create a sound environment for the development of software industry.
The provincial competent information industry department shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments, strengthen the platform construction of public service for software industry, provide software enterprises in the Province with services concerning relevant technology and market information, establish and improve information database of software talents, and offer talents service for software enterprises.
Article 35 The provincial competent information industry department, in conjunction with other departments such as the department of statistics, shall establish software industry statistic system, improve software industry statistic index system, strengthen the guidance and management of software industry statistic work, and regularly publish software industry statistic report.
Article 36 The software industry association shall play its role in formulation of standards, market research, information exchange, consultation and appraisal, cooperation between enterprises, industry self-discipline, and dispute settlement, and promote the development of software industry.
The software industry association may set up software enterprises dispute settlement committee, and mediate disputes between software enterprises based on voluntary principle.
Article 37 The software industry association may formulate or recommend the following model provisions:
(1) professional ethics and practicing requirements for employees in the software industry;
(2) restriction not to engage in competing business and reasonable mobility of talents;
(3) confidentiality terms;
(4) software copyright protection;
(5) other model provisions.
Article 38 The local people's government at or above the county level and other relevant departments shall strengthen the construction of a system of social intermediary service agencies, support the development of the intermediary service agencies of various forms which provide software enterprises with services such as venture capital investment, financing guarantee, talents mobility, and copyright transfer.
Chapter V Support Measures
Article 39 The software enterprises that are certified by the State shall enjoy various preferential policies of the State and this Province for promotion of the development of software industry.
The local people's government at or above the county level and its relevant competent administrative departments shall, according to relevant provisions of the State, guarantee that the software enterprises of this Province shall enjoy various preferential policies on finance and taxation of the State and this Province for support of the development of software industry.
Article 40 The Provincial People's Government shall, according to the needs of this Province for promoting the development of software industry, gradually increase the amount of special fund for promoting the development of software industry and augment its support.
The provincial special fund for promoting the development of software industry shall be used mainly in the research and industrialization of key software technique and products, fostering of products and brands with independent intellectual property rights, support of software outsourcing business, introduction of high-level software talents at home and abroad, construction of public environments and software education and training activities. The measures for use and administration of the special fund shall be formulated by the provincial finance department in conjunction with the provincial competent information industry department.
Cities divided into districts, counties (cities, districts) shall, in light of the actual situation of their respective regions, set up special fund for development of software industry to support and promote the development of software industry in their regions.
Article 41 The special funds set up by the local people's government at or above the county level for small and medium-sized enterprise development, for service industry development, for science and technology, and for technological renovation shall give priority to supporting the projects of software industry that meet the prescribed conditions. Emphasis of science and technology fund shall be put on the support for research and development of essential, key and common software techniques which are of fundamental feature, strategic importance and forward-looking prospect.
The software industrialization projects which meet the conditions prescribed by the State and this Province shall be incorporated into the special category of technical progress and industrial upgrade of the information industry enterprises of this Province in the first place according to State provisions, and enjoy loan subsidies.
Article 42 Entrepreneurial investment fund and venture investment institutions which are financed or set up with fiscal fund shall increase their investment input in software industry; other venture investment institutions are encouraged to invest in software industry.
The guarantee institutions which are set up with fiscal fund shall give priority to providing financing guarantee to software enterprises; other guarantee institutions are encouraged to provide financing guarantee to software enterprises.
Article 43 The competent science and technology department shall provide eligible software enterprises with convenience in their certification as high and new technology enterprises and their enjoyment of relevant preferential policies for high and new technology enterprises.
The provincial competent science and technology department shall formulate measures for software enterprises that meet the conditions to apply for being certified as high and new technology enterprises, and shall simplify the certification process.
Article 44 The relevant departments shall create conditions and provide services to software enterprises for financing by listing on the stock market at home and abroad, assist software enterprises in their completion of pre-listing procedures such as cultivation, transformation and tutoring process, and recommend eligible software enterprises to be listed on the stock market.
Article 45 Where fiscal fund is used to purchase software products and services, it shall be incorporated into the scope of government procurement. For information projects which are constructed with fiscal fund, the percentage of the fund used for purchasing software products and services in the total investment amount shall conform to the relevant State provisions.
Where the government purchases software products and services, it shall purchase domestic software products and services. If the laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise, those provisions shall prevail.
Enterprises are encouraged and guided to develop software products and services in cooperation with software enterprises or purchase domestic software products and services in their information construction process.
Article 46 Software enterprises are encouraged to increase input into research and development, and enhance the ability of independent innovation; they are encouraged to set up production-study-research cooperation mechanism and institutions in association with institutions of higher learning and scientific research institutes, jointly research, develop and popularize software technique and products, and promote the industrialization of innovation achievements.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 47 These Regulations shall apply to integrated circuit design activities conducted within the administrative region of this Province.
Article 48 These Regulations shall enter into effect as of July 1, 2007.