In March 2025 the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology issued its operating rules for the AI pioneer city project support programme, providing the concrete application and funding rules for implementing Shenzhen’s measures on building an AI pioneer city.
Ten supported projects
The operating rules focus on compute support, foundational data, AI software, AI products and AI services, and support ten projects including model vouchers, AI industry application demonstration benchmarks, national open-call matching support and domestic AI ecosystem source innovation centres.
Among them, an AI industry application demonstration benchmark is funded at 30 percent of the actual investment of the project construction entity as verified. Funding a proportion of verified investment in this way requires a company to have a complete chain of investment evidence.
The mechanism of the model voucher
A model voucher resembles a compute voucher: an instrument that converts financial support into the ability to use models. A company receives an allowance that can be spent on model services rather than cash. The advantage of the design is that it directs the money to actual use while reducing the constraint on which supplier a company chooses.
See Shanghai’s AI application subsidy and Beijing’s action plan for software firms’ AI application capability; the three cities differ in which instrument they favour.
The evidentiary logic of post-hoc rewards
Support being paid after the fact means a company must invest first and apply later. That imposes specific requirements on financial management: the correspondence between contracts, invoices, payment records and the project must be clear and traceable.
See the Shenzhen government AI scenario fund; the fund and the reward are two instruments running in parallel, and a company can choose the path that suits its stage.
Three things to prepare before applying
First, keep a separate ledger for project investment. Investment that is booked in a mixed way is hard to verify.
Second, confirm how the project maps to the support catalogue. See the Hangzhou AI commercial application case; the same type of project may be assessed differently in different cities.
Third, have intellectual property and credential documents ready. See the patent examination guidelines on AI; demonstration benchmark projects normally require proof of self-owned intellectual property.
The threshold of local support policy is moving from having a product to having evidence, credentials and a live application.
This article is based on the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology’s operating rules for the AI pioneer city project support programme and public information and is for reference only; it does not constitute legal advice.