(Yicai) Aug. 17 -- East Lake, a high-tech development zone in Wuhan, said today that policy support will be offered for software firms settling there, with generous subsidies available. 

Software firms locating their headquarters in the zone will be offered up to CNY5 million (USD683,710), or up to 10 percent their paid-in registered capital. Also, up to CNY100 million (USD13.7 million) in funding will be offered for “major projects," although the zone didn’t specify what would qualify as such a project.

The firms that can get the subsidies include those with independent core technologies, geo-spatial information firms and companies developing software for intelligent connected vehicles. 

The zone also plans to set up a CNY1 billion (USD136.7 million) software industry fund, which will focus on investing in major projects in the industry. 

"It is necessary to build an open-source ecosystem to promote construction of the software industry, and this is where the local government’s efforts will mostly be made," said Lv Shigong, deputy director general at the zone's bureau for business services. 

The local government will subsidize construction of open-source platforms while encouraging industry leaders to release open-source projects using independently developed tech. It also hopes to attract global firms to cooperate on developing original artificial intelligence large models with worldwide influence, the official noted. 

The zone already had over CNY170 billion (USD23.3 billion) in software industry revenue last year, making up nearly 70 percent of Wuhan's total in a year-on-year gain of over 20 percent. Over 1,000 software firms had gathered in the zone by the end of 2022, official data showed. 

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting