Foreign-Invested R&D Centres in China: Support Policies, Imported Research Supplies and IP Positioning under the 2026 Action Plan
- The Action Plan for Stabilising and Optimising Foreign Investment (MOFCOM, NDRC and MOF, document No. 97 of 2026, completed on 16 June 2026 with State Council approval) devotes Part Two, item (7) to vigorously attracting foreign-invested enterprises to establish R&D centres in China.
《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部，商资发〔2026〕97号，经国务院同意，2026年6月16日成文）第二部分第（七）条专门规定，大力吸引外资企业在华设立研发中心。
- The official wording lists five supporting elements: improved support policies, easier introduction of foreign high-level talent, open innovation platforms and practical training bases and new-type R&D institutions, greater support for transforming innovation results, and import tax preferences for scientific research supplies in accordance with law.
官方原文列出五项支持要素：完善外资研发中心支持政策，便利外籍高层次人才引进，支持设立开放式创新平台和实训基地、发展新型研发机构，加大创新成果转化支持力度，依法享受进口科研用品税收优惠政策。
- The import-tax element is expressed as “in accordance with law”: the Action Plan affirms the entitlement rather than creating a new concession, and sets out no thresholds, covered-goods list or procedure of its own.
进口税收环节的表述为”依法享受”：行动方案确认该项待遇，而非另设新的优惠，其本身并未规定门槛、适用物品清单或办理程序。
- Adjacent provisions widen the downstream routes for results: segmented drug production rules, further pilot regions for biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, commercial insurance coverage for more innovative drugs and devices, and platforms easing access to pharmaceutical retail channels.
相邻条款拓宽了成果的下游路径：药品分段生产实施细则，生物技术与外商独资医院领域试点区域进一步扩大，更多创新药械纳入商业保险保障范围，以及便利进入药品零售渠道的行业协作平台。
- An R&D centre, a manufacturing company and a regional headquarters carry different licences and supervisory expectations, and the ownership of research results should be settled in employment contracts and inter-company agreements rather than left implicit.
研发中心、生产性公司与地区总部承载的牌照与监管期待不同；研究成果的归属应在劳动合同与集团间协议中明确，而非留待默认。
- Technology moving across the border follows classified administration: free-category technology contracts are handled through registration, while restricted-category technology requires licensing.
跨境技术流动适用分类管理：自由类技术合同通过登记办理，限制类技术需取得许可。
Foreign-Invested R&D Centres in China: Support Policies, Imported Research Supplies and IP Positioning under the 2026 Action Plan | 外资研发中心在华：2026年行动方案下的支持政策、进口科研用品与知识产权布局
Overview
The Action Plan for Stabilising and Optimising Foreign Investment (MOFCOM, NDRC and MOF, document No. 97 of 2026, completed on 16 June 2026 with State Council approval) contains a dedicated measure on R&D centres. Under Part Two, item (7), it calls for vigorously attracting foreign-invested enterprises to establish R&D centres in China, with five supporting elements set out below.
An R&D centre in China is not simply a cost centre attached to a factory. It sits where market access, tax and intellectual property meet, and its value depends on whether research results become assets the group can protect, license and operate. This article sets out the official wording, the tax position of imported research supplies, how a centre differs from a factory or a regional headquarters, and the steps that turn a research presence into a productive one.
The measure in the 2026 Action Plan
The provision is short and programmatic, with five building blocks:
- Improving support policies for foreign R&D centres. The Plan does not restate the criteria; it directs that the support framework be improved.
- Facilitating the introduction of foreign high-level talent. Talent mobility is part of the R&D-centre package, linking the measure to the work-permit and talent-administration regime.
- Supporting open innovation platforms, practical training bases and new-type R&D institutions. This recognises centres that collaborate with universities, institutes and industrial partners rather than operating as closed corporate laboratories.
- Increasing support for the transformation of innovation results. Commercialisation, not only discovery, is written into the measure.
- Enjoying import tax preferences for scientific research supplies in accordance with law. The Plan affirms the entitlement by reference to the applicable law rather than creating a concession of its own.
Two adjacent provisions frame the demand side. Part One, item (1), on services-sector opening, calls for steadily expanding pilot openings for vocational-skills training institutions, vocational colleges and high-level science, engineering, agriculture and medical universities, and for supporting Beijing’s national comprehensive demonstration zone for services opening, with pioneering measures in the digital economy and healthcare. Part One, item (3) calls for promptly issuing implementation rules for segmented drug production, seeking approval to further expand pilot regions for biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, supporting insurers in bringing more innovative drugs and devices into commercial insurance coverage, and building platforms that ease the entry of foreign-invested enterprises’ drugs into pharmaceutical retail channels.
Imported research supplies: what “in accordance with law” means in practice
The import-tax element is deliberately general. The Plan affirms that foreign R&D centres may “enjoy import tax preferences for scientific research supplies in accordance with law”, and sets out no thresholds, covered-goods list or procedure of its own. Those details live in the import tax policy for scientific and technological innovation and in the provincial qualification review measures that implement it.
The consequence is procedural rather than interpretive. A centre intending to rely on the preference should confirm with the competent commerce, finance, customs and tax authorities the framework in force and the applicable qualification criteria. It should keep documentary evidence of its research substance — investment or research input, full-time research personnel, equipment purchased — because qualification is assessed against such indicators rather than the centre’s name. It should also verify item by item that the goods it wishes to import meet the applicable conditions, since the preference is bounded by those conditions rather than being a general exemption.
R&D centre, factory and regional headquarters: three different positions
A manufacturing company holds production-related licences and is assessed on output, quality and environmental performance; a regional headquarters is mainly a management, co-ordination and shared-service vehicle; an R&D centre is oriented to research and to the transformation of results. The difference matters in three places.
Licensing and approvals. The approvals, filings and supervisory expectations for a research entity differ from those for a production entity. A group planning to move a project from laboratory to pilot to production should design the entity chain in advance rather than assume that the R&D entity can carry the whole pipeline.
Intellectual-property ownership. Results created by employees in the course of their work raise questions of ownership and reward, which should be settled in employment contracts and internal rules and, where group companies are involved, in inter-company agreements on ownership, licensing and transfer.
Technology flows across the border. China administers technology import and export through classified management: free-category technology contracts are handled through registration, restricted-category technology requires licensing. A centre licensing technology to its overseas parent, or introducing technology from abroad, should complete the applicable formalities; the classification of the specific technology determines the route.
Turning results into protectable, operable assets
Patent layout. Filing strategy should be part of project design — deciding early which results are filed, where and in whose name. The revised Measures for the Prioritised Examination of Patents (State Intellectual Property Office Order No. 85), published on 28 July 2026 and effective from 1 September 2026, replaced the 2017 measures and steer fast-track examination toward high-quality applications serving emerging and future industries. For a portfolio concentrated in such fields, prioritised examination is one available accelerator; the substantive requirements and the grounds on which it will not be granted should be checked against the current measures, and the service carries no additional fee.
Contractual architecture. Collaboration with universities, institutes and partners should be documented, with clarity on background and foreground rights, publication and the treatment of jointly created results.
Commercialisation pathway. The emphasis on result transformation, read with the healthcare openings above, suggests that centres should plan the downstream route from the outset: pilot and scale-up capacity, approvals, and the commercial channels available.
Service safeguards
The Plan also addresses what happens after a project lands: it calls for fully implementing national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises and for a special rectification campaign in government procurement to remove barriers; it strengthens the “Invest in China” brand, provides for monthly roundtable meetings with foreign-invested enterprises, and establishes dedicated task forces for key foreign investment projects to provide “point-to-point” service.
Practical steps
- Read item (7) with items (1) and (3), which determine where results can go.
- Settle the entity design — R&D, pilot and production entities, and any regional headquarters — and map licences accordingly.
- Document the centre’s research substance from the start, so that qualification reviews rest on evidence rather than assertion, and confirm the current import-tax policy and its conditions before committing to equipment purchases.
- Write intellectual-property arrangements into employment contracts and inter-company agreements, covering ownership, licensing, transfer and cross-border technology flows.
Related reading
- The Action Plan for Stabilising and Optimising Foreign Investment (document No. 97 of 2026).
Sources
- 湖南省人民政府（《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》官方英文全文，含第（七）条研发中心原文）: https://www.hunan.gov.cn/zqt/zcsd/202607/34034823/files/7660c23769ae4f51ac21a456fe4e0ea5.pdf
- 江苏省知识产权局（关于修改《专利优先审查管理办法》的说明）: https://jsip.jiangsu.gov.cn/art/2026/9/20/art_76183_11832138.html
- 浙江省市场监督管理局（国家知识产权局关于做好《专利优先审查管理办法》有关实施工作的通知）: https://zjamr.zj.gov.cn/col/col1229094027/art/2026/art_c86f0eda26b8439d806be9a748519f47.html
- 国家知识产权局（官网）: https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/
- 商务部（官网）: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/
外资研发中心在华：2026年行动方案下的支持政策、进口科研用品与知识产权布局
概述
《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部，商资发〔2026〕97号，经国务院同意，2026年6月16日成文）中就研发中心设有专门条款。方案第二部分第（七）条提出，大力吸引外资企业在华设立研发中心，并列出以下五项支持要素。
对外资集团而言，在华研发中心并非附属于工厂的成本单元。它处在市场准入、税收与知识产权三条政策线的交汇处，其价值取决于研究成果能否转化为集团可保护、可许可、可运营的资产。本文梳理该条官方原文、进口科研用品的税收位置、研发中心与生产实体及地区总部在牌照与知识产权层面的差异，以及把研发存在变成研发产出的实务步骤。
2026年行动方案中的该条内容
该条文字简短、方向明确，由五个要素构成：
- 完善外资研发中心支持政策。 方案本身未重述具体标准，而是要求把支持政策框架加以完善。
- 便利外籍高层次人才引进。 人才流动被纳入研发中心政策的整体安排，与工作许可、人才管理等制度相衔接。
- 支持设立开放式创新平台、实训基地，发展新型研发机构。 这认可了研发中心与高校、科研院所、产业伙伴协作的模式，而非仅作为封闭的企业实验室运行。
- 加大创新成果转化支持力度。 转化与发现并重，被写入条款之中。
- 依法享受进口科研用品税收优惠政策。 方案以援引现行法律的方式确认该项待遇，而非另行创设一项新的优惠。
两条相邻条款界定了需求侧。第一部分第（一）条关于深化服务业领域开放，提出稳步扩大职业技能培训机构、职业院校、高水平理工农医类大学对外开放试点；支持北京提升国家服务业扩大开放综合示范区建设水平，推动数字经济、医药健康等现代服务业重点领域开放举措先行先试。第一部分第（三）条关于支持外资参与医药等产业高质量发展，提出抓紧研究出台药品分段生产实施细则；抓紧研究报批进一步扩大生物技术、外商独资医院领域开放试点区域范围；支持保险公司将更多创新药械纳入商业保险保障范围；搭建行业协作平台，便利外资企业生产的药品进入药品零售渠道。
进口科研用品：”依法享受”在实务中的含义
该条中的进口税收要素刻意保持概括。方案确认外资研发中心可”依法享受进口科研用品税收优惠政策”，其本身并未规定门槛、适用物品清单或办理程序。这些细节由支持科技创新的进口税收政策及其配套的省级资格审核办法承载。
因此，实务上的后果是程序性的，而非解释性的。拟适用该待遇的中心，应先与商务、财政、海关与税务主管部门确认现行有效的政策框架与适用资格条件；应保存体现研发实质的证明材料——投资额或研发投入、专职研发人员、累计购置设备——因为资格是按此类指标而非按中心名称判定的；还应逐项核实拟进口物品是否满足适用条件，因为该待遇以这些条件为边界。
研发中心、工厂与地区总部：三种不同位置
生产性公司持有与生产相关的牌照，考核的是产量、质量与环境表现。地区总部主要是管理、协调与共享服务载体。研发中心则面向研究以及成果转化。差异体现在三处。
牌照与审批。 研发主体所适用的审批、备案与监管期待，与生产主体并不相同。计划把项目从实验室推进到中试再到生产的集团，应提前设计主体链条，而不是假定研发主体能够承载整条链路。
知识产权归属。 员工在职完成的成果，其归属与奖酬问题应在劳动合同与内部制度中厘清；涉及集团内公司时，还应在公司间协议中就归属、许可与转让作出约定。若相关安排对此保持沉默，将给集团的全球资产组合带来本可避免的不确定性。
跨境技术流动。 中国对技术进出口实行分类管理：自由类技术合同通过登记办理，限制类技术需取得许可。研发中心向境外母公司许可技术，或从境外引进技术时，应完成相应手续；具体技术的类别决定适用路径。
让成果成为可保护、可运营的资产
专利布局。 申请策略应作为项目设计的组成部分——尽早确定哪些成果申请、在哪里申请、以谁的名义申请。新修订《专利优先审查管理办法》（国家知识产权局令第八十五号）于2026年7月28日公布、自2026年9月1日起施行，取代2017年发布的原办法，优先审查资源向服务新兴产业和未来产业领域的高质量申请倾斜。对于资产组合集中于此类领域的中心，优先审查是可用的一条加速通道；实质性条件以及不予优先审查的情形，应比照现行办法核对，且该服务不收取额外费用。
合同架构。 与高校、科研院所及伙伴开展的协作应有书面安排，就背景权利与前景权利、发表以及共同形成成果的处理作出清晰约定。
转化路径。 方案对成果转化的强调，结合前述医药领域的开放举措，提示中心应从一开始就考虑下游路径——中试与放大能力、所需审批，以及成果产品可用的商业渠道。
服务保障
方案也涉及项目落地之后的事项：全面落实外资企业国民待遇，开展政府采购领域专项整治破除壁垒；强化”投资中国”品牌，每月召开外资企业圆桌会议，并建立重点外资项目工作专班提供”点对点”服务。
实务步骤
- 把第（七）条与第（一）条、第（三）条结合阅读，后者决定成果可去向何处。
- 先确定主体设计——研发主体、中试与生产主体，以及可能的地区总部——并据此梳理牌照。
- 从一开始就记录中心的研发实质，使资格审核以证据而非主张为支撑；并在承诺设备采购之前，与主管部门确认现行进口税收政策及其适用条件。
- 把知识产权安排写入劳动合同与公司间协议，覆盖归属、许可、转让与跨境技术流动。
相关阅读
- 《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商资发〔2026〕97号）。
- 新修订《专利优先审查管理办法》（局令第八十五号）。
来源
- 湖南省人民政府（《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》官方英文全文，含第（七）条研发中心原文）：https://www.hunan.gov.cn/zqt/zcsd/202607/34034823/files/7660c23769ae4f51ac21a456fe4e0ea5.pdf
- 江苏省知识产权局（关于修改《专利优先审查管理办法》的说明）：https://jsip.jiangsu.gov.cn/art/2026/9/20/art_76183_11832138.html
- 浙江省市场监督管理局（国家知识产权局关于做好《专利优先审查管理办法》有关实施工作的通知）：https://zjamr.zj.gov.cn/col/col1229094027/art/2026/art_c86f0eda26b8439d806be9a748519f47.html
- 国家知识产权局（官网）：https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/
- 商务部（官网）：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/