Empowering the Development of New Quality Productive Forces by Cultivating and Strengthening Patient Capital

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, points out that we should "improve the institutional mechanisms for developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions," and "encourage and regulate the development of angel investment, venture capital, and private equity investment, better leverage the role of government investment funds, and develop patient capital." The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized "improving the multi-level financial service system, strengthening patient capital, and making greater efforts to attract social capital to participate in venture investment." We must deeply understand the important significance of strengthening patient capital for developing new quality productive forces, and empower the development of new quality productive forces by cultivating and strengthening patient capital.

党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》（以下简称《决定》）指出，“健全因地制宜发展新质生产力体制机制”，“鼓励和规范发展天使投资、风险投资、私募股权投资，更好发挥政府投资基金作用，发展耐心资本”。2024年中央经济工作会议强调，“健全多层次金融服务体系，壮大耐心资本，更大力度吸引社会资本参与创业投资”。我们要深刻认识壮大耐心资本对发展新质生产力的重要意义，以培育壮大耐心资本赋能新质生产力发展。

I. Comprehensively Grasping the Connotation of Patient Capital

一、全面把握耐心资本的内涵

Patient capital possesses the basic characteristics of venture capital: it does not pursue short-term returns, can withstand certain fluctuations and drawdowns, and values long-term value. To accurately understand the connotation and core essence of patient capital, we must deeply grasp the role and significance of cultivating and strengthening patient capital in promoting the development of new quality productive forces.

耐心资本具有风险投资的基本特征，不追求短期回报、能够承受一定波动和回撤、看重长期价值。要准确理解耐心资本的内涵与核心要义，深刻把握培育壮大耐心资本对于推动新质生产力发展的作用和意义。

Long-term orientation is the prominent feature of patient capital. The Decision points out that we should "improve support policies for long-term capital to invest early, invest small, invest long-term, and invest in hard technology." Long-term orientation is the prominent feature of patient capital, which can provide a source of factors for the development of new quality productive forces. Long-term not only refers to the time horizon, but is also reflected in the requirements for returns, emphasizing long-term returns rather than short-term returns. In the investment decision-making process, patient capital investors tend to conduct in-depth analysis of a company's fundamentals and long-term value, are generally not affected by short-term market fluctuations, and can patiently wait for the realization of investment results. Investors typically choose industries and enterprises with long-term growth potential for investment, and achieve investment goals through long-term holding and continuous tracking. This investment orientation not only helps promote the long-term development and innovation of enterprises, but also provides a continuous source of power for the development of new quality productive forces.

长期是耐心资本的突出特征。《决定》指出，“完善长期资本投早、投小、投长期、投硬科技的支持政策”。长期是耐心资本的突出特征，可为新质生产力发展提供要素来源。长期不仅仅指时限，更体现在对收益的要求上，注重长期收益而非短期收益。在投资决策过程中，耐心资本投资者更倾向于深入分析企业的基本面和长期价值，通常不受市场短期波动的影响，能够耐心等待投资成果的实现。投资者通常会选择具有长期增长潜力的行业和企业进行投资，并通过长期持有和持续跟踪来实现投资目标。这种投资导向不仅有助于推动企业的长期发展和创新，而且为新质生产力发展提供源源不断的动力。

Value investing is the essential attribute of patient capital. Unlike traditional capital that pursues short-term interests, patient capital pays more attention to the intrinsic value and long-term development trends of assets, rather than short-term price fluctuations. Investors in patient capital will conduct in-depth research on a company's business model, technological path, and development strategy, and conduct long-term value assessments, thereby selecting enterprises with genuine development potential for investment. This method provides a more rational value judgment standard for the development of new quality productive forces. We must fully leverage the role of the capital market as a platform for market-based allocation of factors, form price signals around corporate investment value, reflect various factors such as industry, entrepreneurial ability, technology, talent, risk, and internal and external environment, price key factors and underlying assets, effectively convert funds with different risk preferences and maturities into social capital, and promote the allocation of various factors to key areas that enhance new quality productive forces.

价值投资是耐心资本的本质属性。与追求短期利益的传统资本不同，耐心资本更加关注资产的内在价值和长期发展趋势，而非短期的价格波动。耐心资本的投资者会深入研究企业的商业模式、技术路径和发展战略，并进行长期的价值评估，从而选择真正具有发展潜力的企业进行投资。这种方法为新质生产力的发展提供了更为理性的价值判断标准。要充分发挥资本市场作为要素市场化配置平台的作用，围绕企业投资价值形成价格信号，反映行业、企业家能力、技术、人才、风险和内外环境等各种因素，对关键要素和标的资产定价，将不同风险偏好和期限的资金有效转化为社会资本，推动各类要素配置到提升新质生产力的关键领域。

Risk tolerance is the inherent foundation of patient capital. Patient capital tends to invest in emerging industries and technological innovation fields with high growth potential. Although these fields are full of uncertainty and risk, they also contain enormous development opportunities. Patient capital can accept no returns or even losses over a longer period of time, and will not easily withdraw funds due to short-term market fluctuations, thereby creating a favorable risk-tolerant environment for the development of new quality productive forces. Patient capital has strong tolerance for negative fluctuations in the market and projects in the short term. Even when the market is depressed, it can remain rational and calm, actively engage in counter-cyclical positioning, and maintain the stable operation of projects.

风险耐受是耐心资本的固有底色。耐心资本倾向于投资具有高成长潜力的新兴产业和科技创新领域，这些领域虽然充满不确定性和风险，但也蕴含着巨大的发展机遇。耐心资本能够接受在较长时间内无收益甚至亏损，不会因为短期的市场波动而轻易撤资，从而为新质生产力的发展创造良好的风险容忍环境。耐心资本对短期内市场、项目上的负面波动具有较强的耐受力，即使在市场低迷时也能够保持理性和冷静，积极进行逆周期布局，维持项目稳定运行。

II. The Demand for Patient Capital in Developing New Quality Productive Forces

二、发展新质生产力对耐心资本的需求

Developing new quality productive forces requires paying higher time costs and opportunity costs. The importance of patient capital lies in its long-term nature, value orientation, and tolerance, enabling it to invest early, invest small, and invest in hard technology, helping science and technology innovation enterprises resolve "growing pains" such as difficult and expensive financing, and empowering the transformation of new quality productive forces.

发展新质生产力，需要付出较高的时间成本和机会成本。耐心资本的重要性在于长期性、价值性、耐受性，能投早、投小、投硬科技，帮助科创企业化解融资难、融资贵等“成长的烦恼”，助力新质生产力变革。

Breaking through key core technology bottlenecks and achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must use scientific and technological innovation to promote industrial innovation, especially using disruptive technologies and frontier technologies to give birth to new industries, new models, and new drivers of growth, and develop new quality productive forces." The inherent requirement of developing new quality productive forces is to break through key core technology bottlenecks and achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. Through risk management mechanisms, patient capital can effectively reduce the risks faced in the process of scientific and technological innovation, creating a stable financial environment for enterprises' scientific and technological innovation activities. At the same time, by optimizing the financing structure, patient capital can also reduce enterprises' financing costs, thereby enhancing enterprises' ability to bear innovation risks, especially their tolerance for technical risks, improving their capacity to bear the costs of trial and error in technological innovation, and thus alleviating the potential pressure brought by innovation risks. Given that scientific and technological innovation often requires huge and sustained R&D capital investment, patient capital provides stable financial support for technological breakthroughs through multiple financial resource allocation channels, including government investment funds, pension funds, and insurance capital, effectively addressing enterprises' funding shortages and accelerating the process of technological breakthroughs.

突破关键核心技术攻关，实现高水平科技自立自强。习近平总书记指出：“要以科技创新推动产业创新，特别是以颠覆性技术和前沿技术催生新产业、新模式、新动能，发展新质生产力。”发展新质生产力的内在要求就是突破关键核心技术攻关，实现高水平科技自立自强。耐心资本借助风险管理机制，能够有效降低科技创新进程中所面临的风险，为企业的科技创新活动营造一个稳定的金融环境。同时，通过优化融资结构，耐心资本还能降低企业的融资成本，进而增强企业对创新风险的承受能力，尤其是技术风险的容忍度，提升技术创新试错的成本承担能力，从而缓解创新风险带来的潜在压力。鉴于科技创新往往需要巨额且持续的研发资金投入，耐心资本通过提供包括政府投资基金、养老基金、保险资本等在内的多种金融资源配置途径，为技术攻关提供稳定的资金支持，有效应对企业资金短缺问题，加速技术攻关进程。

Promoting the deep transformation and upgrading of industries and building a modern industrial system. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Actively cultivate strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information, actively cultivate future industries, and accelerate the formation of new quality productive forces." By providing long-term financial support, patient capital provides room for trial and error for the development of future industries, completing the key transformation of future industries from technological R&D to industrial application. At the same time, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Developing new quality productive forces does not mean ignoring or abandoning traditional industries." The diversity of forms of patient capital can meet the funding needs of different fields and projects, promote the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries, and reshape production processes and innovate management models through the application of digital and intelligent technologies, which is an important path for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. In addition, patient capital strengthens the competitiveness of traditional industries in the market by supporting them to increase R&D investment and introduce advanced technology and professional talent.

推动产业深度转型升级，建设现代化产业体系。习近平总书记指出，“积极培育新能源、新材料、先进制造、电子信息等战略性新兴产业，积极培育未来产业，加快形成新质生产力”。耐心资本通过提供长期资金支持，为未来产业发展提供试错空间，完成未来产业从技术研发到产业化应用的关键转变。同时，习近平总书记强调，“发展新质生产力不是要忽视、放弃传统产业”。耐心资本的形式多样性能够满足不同领域和项目的资金需求，推动传统产业实现数字化和智能化转型，通过数字技术和智能技术的应用重塑生产流程与创新管理模式，是传统产业转型升级的重要路径。另外，耐心资本通过支持传统产业增加研发投入，引进先进技术与专业人才，强化传统产业在市场上的竞争力。

Accelerating the innovative allocation of advanced production factors and stimulating new drivers of economic development. The Decision proposes to "improve relevant rules and policies, accelerate the formation of relations of production more compatible with new quality productive forces, promote the concentration of various advanced production factors toward the development of new quality productive forces, and substantially increase total factor productivity." Introducing patient capital with value investing and high fault tolerance, continuously and stably providing the financial support needed for the development of new quality productive forces, helping invested enterprises cultivate core competitiveness, and achieving a high-level cycle of technology, industry, and finance—only in this way can we promote the concentration of various advanced production factors toward the development of new quality productive forces. Patient capital can effectively enhance the scale and level of innovation, thereby increasing total factor productivity and injecting new momentum into economic development.

加速先进生产要素创新配置，激发经济发展新动能。《决定》提出，“健全相关规则和政策，加快形成同新质生产力更相适应的生产关系，促进各类先进生产要素向发展新质生产力集聚，大幅提升全要素生产率”。引入价值投资、容错度高的耐心资本，持续、稳定地为新质生产力发展提供所需的资金支持，帮助被投资企业培育核心竞争力，实现科技、产业、金融高水平循环，这样才能促进各类先进生产要素向发展新质生产力集聚。耐心资本可以有效提升创新规模和创新水平，从而提升全要素生产率，为经济发展注入新的动能。

III. Taking Multiple Measures to Cultivate and Strengthen Patient Capital

三、多措并举培育壮大耐心资本

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "We must deepen reforms of the economic system, science and technology system, and others, and make every effort to remove the bottlenecks and obstacles that constrain the development of new quality productive forces." Cultivating and developing new quality productive forces is a systematic, holistic, and long-term project. We must adhere to a systems perspective, strengthen top-level design, improve institutional mechanisms, and take multiple measures to cultivate and strengthen patient capital, empowering the development of new quality productive forces.

习近平总书记指出，“要深化经济体制、科技体制等改革，着力打通束缚新质生产力发展的堵点卡点”。培育发展新质生产力是一项系统性、全局性、长期性工程，要坚持系统观念，加强顶层设计，完善体制机制，多措并举培育壮大耐心资本，赋能新质生产力发展。

Uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the Party, and consolidate the foundation for development through the organic integration of an effective market and a capable government. As an important supplier of patient capital and a key actor in developing new quality productive forces, the government can guide more patient capital toward key areas for developing new quality productive forces through policies, fiscal and tax support, and other means, providing support for disruptive scientific and technological innovation activities and safeguarding the development of new quality productive forces. First, improve the comprehensive policy system. To cultivate and strengthen patient capital, policies should be tailored to the sources of funds and investment characteristics of patient capital, improve support policies for investing early, investing small, investing long-term, and investing in hard technology, provide all-round financial services for scientific and technological innovation, and promote the orderly flow and mutual coupling of innovative resources such as funds, technology, talent, and projects. Second, establish and improve a coordinated mechanism for fiscal and financial policies. It is necessary to strengthen fiscal-financial coordination, fully leverage the guiding, leveraging, and synergistic roles of government guidance funds, and form synergy with financial capital to strengthen patient capital. Explore the establishment of a credit risk-sharing mechanism for science and technology innovation enterprises, further enhancing the willingness and capacity of financial institutions to serve technology-based enterprises. All financial actors should increase the supply of patient capital, place serving the development of new quality productive forces in a prominent position, continuously improve the precision and adaptability of patient capital in serving new quality productive forces, and comprehensively support the development of new quality productive forces. Finally, by deepening reform of the investment and financing system and opening green channels for technology enterprise financing, establish a policy environment conducive to patient capital supporting the development of new quality productive forces.

坚持和加强党的全面领导，以有效市场和有为政府有机结合夯实发展根基。政府作为耐心资本的重要供给方和发展新质生产力的重要主体，可以通过政策、财税支持等引导更多耐心资本流向发展新质生产力的关键领域，为颠覆性科技创新活动提供支持，保障新质生产力发展。首先，完善一揽子政策体系。培育壮大耐心资本，要根据耐心资本的资金来源和投资特征分类施策，完善投早、投小、投长期、投硬科技的支持政策，为科技创新提供全方位金融服务，促进资金、技术、人才、项目等创新资源有序流动和相互耦合。其次，建立健全财政金融政策联动机制。要强化财政金融联动，充分发挥政府引导基金的引导、撬动和协同作用，与金融资本形成合力，壮大耐心资本。探索建立科创企业信贷风险分担机制，进一步提升金融机构服务科技型企业的意愿和能力。各金融主体要提高耐心资本供给，把服务新质生产力发展摆在突出位置，持续提升耐心资本服务新质生产力的精准性、适配性，全面助力新质生产力发展。最后，通过深化投融资体制改革与开通科技企业融资绿色通道等路径，建立有利于耐心资本助力新质生产力发展的政策环境。

Improve the mechanism for long-term capital to serve the development of new quality productive forces, and build an investment and financing ecosystem for patient capital. For patient capital to support the development of new quality productive forces, it is necessary to break through traditional paths of productive force development, improve the long-term capital supply mechanism, and provide all-round financial support for emerging industries and future industries. By building science and technology financial platforms to support original and disruptive scientific and technological innovation, promote the deep integration of technology, industry, and capital. Encourage, support, and guide household savings to be converted into high-quality patient capital through enterprise annuities, occupational annuities, and other means, entering key areas for developing new quality productive forces. At the same time, expand exit channels for venture capital funds, explore the transfer of private equity fund shares, and promote invested technology enterprises to obtain more market-based services in refinancing, post-investment management, and other areas. On this basis, improve the construction of the patient capital investment and financing ecosystem, and establish an evaluation system matched to long-term investment. It is necessary to firmly grasp the trends in technology and industrial development, deeply understand the operating conditions of science and technology innovation enterprises, listen to the development demands of growing emerging enterprises, solve pressing difficulties and concerns in key areas in a targeted manner, and incubate core key technologies to form new quality productive forces.

完善长期资本服务供给新质生产力发展机制，构建耐心资本投融资生态体系。耐心资本助力新质生产力发展需突破传统生产力发展路径，完善长期资本供给机制，为新兴产业、未来产业发展提供全方位的资金扶持。通过构建科技金融平台支持原创性、颠覆性科技创新，推动科技、产业、资金深度融合。鼓励、支持、引导居民储蓄通过企业年金、职业年金等方式转化为优质耐心资本，进入发展新质生产力重点领域。同时，拓展创业投资基金退出渠道，探索私募股权基金份额转让，促进被投科技企业在再融资、投后管理等方面获得更多市场化服务。在此基础上，完善耐心资本投融资生态建设，建立与长期投资匹配的评价体系。要牢牢把握科技与产业发展动向，深入了解科创企业的经营状况，倾听成长期新兴企业的发展诉求，有针对性解决重点领域的急难愁盼问题，孵化关键核心技术形成新质生产力。

Innovate patient capital products and services to stimulate the vitality of new quality productive forces. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Coordinate the use of equity, debt, insurance, and other instruments to provide full-chain, full-lifecycle financial services for technology-based enterprises." Financial actors should be united to commit to innovating patient capital products and services to meet the needs of developing new quality productive forces. It is necessary to strengthen the linkage between primary and secondary markets, providing diversified, relay-style financial services across the full chain and full lifecycle for emerging industries and future industries. On the one hand, enhance the precision and targeting of patient capital in supporting the development of new quality productive forces, and promote the incubation and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. In the incubation stage of scientific and technological innovation, vigorously develop angel investment and other private equity funds to effectively promote the construction of infrastructure for new quality productive forces; in the industrial transformation stage, use financing products such as convertible bonds and intellectual property pledges to promote the expansion of market share for new quality productive forces; in the enterprise maturity and expansion stage, ensure smooth exit and return mechanisms, injecting sustained momentum into the development of new quality productive forces. On the other hand, broaden the service scope of patient capital and increase support for emerging industries. At the same time, strengthen capital allocation and integration, and through innovative financial products, promote technological transformation and industrial upgrading of traditional manufacturing, enhance competitive advantages, and thereby give rise to new quality productive forces.

创新耐心资本产品与服务，激发新质生产力活力。习近平总书记强调，“统筹运用好股权、债权、保险等手段，为科技型企业提供全链条、全生命周期金融服务”。应联合金融主体，致力于创新耐心资本的产品与服务，以满足新质生产力发展的需求。需加强一二级市场的联动，为新兴产业和未来产业提供全链条、全生命周期的多样化、接力式金融服务。一方面，增强耐心资本在助力新质生产力发展中的精准性和针对性，推动科技成果孵化转化。在科技创新孵化阶段，大力发展天使投资等私募股权基金，有效促进新质生产力基础设施建设；在产业发展转型阶段，利用可转债和知识产权抵押等融资产品，推动新质生产力市场份额扩大；在企业成熟扩张阶段，确保退出回流机制畅通，为新质生产力发展注入持续动力。另一方面，拓宽耐心资本服务范围，加大对新兴产业的支持力度。同时，加强资金配置与整合，通过创新金融产品，推动传统制造业技术改造和产业升级，提升竞争优势，进而催生新质生产力。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗