On September 22nd, at the 5th Bund Financial Summit in 2023, discussions on how finance can support science and technology innovation and support the real economy kept coming.
Experts pointed out that the biggest problem for scientific and technological innovation is how to deal with the risks and uncertainties faced by innovation and how to cross the "valley of death"; Risk pricing and risk allocation are the most basic and important functions for the financial system. It is these that make finance and technological innovation have a natural connection, and also provide a perfect reason for finance to support technological innovation.
However, "the lack of risk identification ability, the dysfunction of risk pricing and risk allocation are precisely the Achilles heel of China’s financial system, which has also become the fundamental reason for the lack of financial support for scientific and technological innovation." Zhang Xiaojing, director of the Institute of Finance of China Academy of Social Sciences and director of the National Finance and Development Laboratory, said that the "structural advantages" of state-owned enterprises, the development responsibility and soft budget constraints of local governments, the institutional preference of financial institutions and the central government’s last resort have led to the irrationality of risk pricing and allocation of financial resources. However, he also stressed that the government should not play a role in supporting innovation and economic and social development, but "on the premise that the market plays a decisive role".
In addition to the weakness of the financial market, "ideological enlightenment" is also a key word. "Financial support for science and technology innovation needs an’ ideological enlightenment’." Traditional thinking is that "present" is the cumulative result of all "past"; What financial thinking values is the capitalization of "present" and "future". The value of capital depends on the expectation of the future, not the past, which is a real revolution and ideological enlightenment in epistemology. It is for this reason that the theoretical basis of financial support for science and technology innovation is that the current financial support for science and technology innovation should depend on the expectation of future scientific and technological innovation achievements.
This requires better tolerance. "Subversive innovation will have its own peers? Will there be a historical reference? None. " Zhang Xiaojing believes that it is necessary to enhance the inclusiveness of science and technology evaluation standards. At the same time, at the micro level, investment failure should be allowed, and state-owned enterprises should establish a fault-tolerant mechanism; To tolerate fluctuations and bubbles at the macro level, keeping the bottom line of risk does not mean zero tolerance for financial risks. The function of finance is realized in fluctuation, just as the function of price mechanism is that price is realized around value fluctuation, which means that supervision should be inclusive.
According to Xu Ming, a professor at the School of International Finance and Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, technology and capital are two wings of the real economy, while technological innovation and capital market innovation are two engines. He believes that capital market innovation can further stimulate the basic functions of the capital market, thus better serving the real economy.
How to innovate capital market? Xu Ming believes that from the perspective of financiers, it is necessary to further expand the proportion of direct financing. At the same time, the registration system should take the road of marketization. The marketization construction of capital market needs to handle "four relations" well.
The first is the relationship between the government and the market. "This market should be: clear expectations and trust-based. Capital market is expected market, information market and capital market. Among them, expectations and information are prerequisites. Without information and expectations, capital cannot enter the capital market. " In Xu Ming’s view, the marketization of the registration system should first be expected clearly. On the one hand, it is necessary to maintain the scientific, reasonable and normal IPO issuance, on the other hand, it is fair and transparent in information disclosure.
The second is the relationship between the government and enterprises. To give the option to the market, the listing and pricing should be decided by the market.
The third is the relationship between the government and investors. In the process of IPO, information disclosure should be oriented to the needs of investors.
In addition, the relationship between the government and the intermediary agencies is to clarify the responsibilities and return to their duties. "The government can’t make decisions instead of intermediaries. The responsibility of the intermediary itself is fidelity. "
Editor-in-Chief: Zaifei
Author: Liu Huiyu
Source of the title map: upper view of the title map
Photo editor: Shao Jing