Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing: A State-Owned Pioneer Blending Venture Capital and Leasing to Empower SMEs in the HealthTech Sector

During corporate development, companies most frequently encounter two major challenges: difficulty in securing financing and a lack of equipment. In response, financial leasing companies have emerged, intervening as third parties to provide services such as capital planning, equipment financing, management consulting, and industrial synergy, thereby helping enterprises alleviate financial pressure. In the healthcare sector, some hospitals also adopt leasing models when purchasing large-scale medical equipment to spread out the capital expenditure associated with equipment acquisition.

Zhongguancun Technology Leasing Co., Ltd., established in late 2012, is a state-controlled domestic pilot enterprise for financial leasing approved by the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Taxation. With a registered capital of RMB 1 billion, it is China’s first technology leasing company. Leveraging Zhongguancun Development Group, a key market-oriented integrated operation platform within the demonstration zone, the company specializes in providing efficient financial services and equipment leasing solutions to technology enterprises and healthcare service institutions.

Since its establishment, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing has cumulatively served more than 300 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), completed nearly 800 cooperative projects, and achieved a total financial leasing disbursement of over RMB 10 billion. Among these, more than 100 projects were in the big health sector, with disbursed funds exceeding RMB 3 billion. The company has successfully helped numerous technology-based enterprises grow and expand, with 15 of them emerging as leading players in their respective niche markets. This has effectively improved the financing environment for SMEs and pioneered new directions for the development of the financial leasing industry.

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) interviewed Liu Shouquan, Assistant to the General Manager of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Leasing Co., Ltd. He introduced to VCBeat the company’s strategic layout in financial leasing services, proposed solutions addressing challenges such as financing difficulties and equipment acquisition barriers in the healthcare industry, and outlined its future development plans.

Liu Shouquan, Assistant to the General Manager of Zhongguancun Technology Leasing Co., Ltd. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

In late 2012, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing Co., Ltd. was established with capital contributions from entities including Zhongguancun Development Group. Liu Shouquan told VCBeat that the establishment of Zhongguancun Technology Leasing was designed to align with national development strategies and respond to Beijing’s positioning for the development of high-end, precision-cutting-edge industries. The company focuses on providing efficient financial services and equipment leasing solutions to technology enterprises, aiming to achieve mutually beneficial growth for both the technology and financial sectors.

Zhongguancun Development Group is a corporate group established in early 2010 under the leadership of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Beijing Municipal People’s Government. By allocating innovation resources through market-oriented mechanisms, it has built itself into a large-scale financial group with major business segments encompassing industrial investment, sci-tech finance, park development, regional cooperation, and overseas operations.

Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing primarily provides innovative leasing products and services to small and medium-sized innovative enterprises and healthcare service providers. Its offerings encompass nine business models: project leasing, vendor leasing, direct leasing, risk leasing, cluster leasing, venture capital leasing, sale-and-leaseback, operating leasing, and M&A leasing. Additionally, it offers three value-added services—“Yinzu Tong,” “Touzu Tong,” and “Baozu Tong”—and has established an integrated service system comprising “financing planning, management consulting, customer synergy, and policy agency services,” thereby enhancing the endogenous growth momentum of technology-based SMEs.

“Having grown to our current scale, we have become one of the leading financial leasing companies in China’s sci-tech innovation sector. We provide diversified financial leasing services to the industry, offering comprehensive support to innovative enterprises in addressing their financing needs, particularly those of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” said Liu Shouquan.

Among the nine leasing solutions, the proportion of direct leasing and venture capital leasing has been gradually increasing. Direct leasing refers to a leasing business in which Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing purchases leased assets, such as new equipment and new factory buildings, based on the enterprise’s selection, leases them to the enterprise, and transfers ownership of the leased assets to the lessee upon expiration of the lease term. Venture capital leasing is an organic combination of debt financing and equity financing; it is an innovative form of leasing service provided by Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing to enterprises in their start-up and growth stages, with rental payments and share warrants serving as investment returns.

“Some startups require both capital and equipment in their early stages, but introducing equity investment too early can dilute the founding team’s ownership stakes and hinder the company’s subsequent development. We provide them with equipment in exchange for stock warrants, which we exercise only when the company reaches a certain stage of growth. This approach resolves the issue of premature equity dilution for startup founding teams.” Liu Shouquan highlighted the venture leasing model designed to serve startups, characterized by the integration of leasing and investment.

In project selection, Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing employs a mature set of evaluation metrics, including corporate cash flow, competitive advantages, growth potential, and commercialization capabilities. It prioritizes support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that possess proprietary products, core technologies, and proven business models, applying an “investment banking mindset” to project screening.

With a state-owned background and an investment banking mindset, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing has cumulatively disbursed over RMB 10 billion in financial leasing facilities since its establishment five years ago, supporting the development of more than 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), some of which have grown into leaders in their respective niche sectors.

Liu Shouquan told VCBeat that Zhongguancun Technology Leasing serves enterprises in four major sectors: big health, big data, big environment, and intelligent manufacturing. The big health sector can be further divided into several key sub-sectors, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare services, and Internet-plus-healthcare.

The emphasis on providing services to startups in the broader health sector stems from two main factors. First, against the backdrop of surging healthcare demand among the Chinese population, there is a large number of medical startups facing significant funding gaps that cannot be adequately met by traditional financing channels such as venture capital and angel investment. Second, medical startups have higher requirements for equipment, and given the relatively high cost of medical devices, leasing finance is particularly well-suited to their needs.

In the broader healthcare sector, Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing established its Healthcare Business Division in 2015 to specialize in financial leasing services for this industry. Over the past three years, the company has deployed more than RMB 3 billion in financing, supporting the growth of over 100 enterprises.

Liu Shouquan believes that financial leasing in the big health industry will develop rapidly as policies, market demand, and the needs of real economy development are gradually realized.

In terms of policy, in September 2015, the General Office of the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Financial Leasing Industry, which stated that “in light of the characteristics of financial leasing, facilities should be provided for financial leasing companies to apply for medical device operation permits or complete filing procedures.” In March 2016, the General Office of the State Council released the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, proposing to “explore cooperation between medical device manufacturers and financial leasing companies as well as financial leasing firms, so as to provide installment payment services for the procurement of large-scale medical equipment to medical institutions of all ownership types.”

The two opinions issued by the State Council affirm the positive role of financial leasing in the procurement of large-scale medical equipment by medical institutions of all ownership types, support cooperation among medical equipment manufacturers, medical institutions, and leasing companies, and aim to promote the healthy and rapid development of the medical equipment financial leasing industry.

From the perspective of market demand, innovation-driven development is an inevitable direction for domestic pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises, such as the research and development of innovative drugs, the advancement of biopharmaceuticals, as well as independent innovation in the medical device industry and the substitution of imported products with domestically produced ones. “Pharmaceutical and medical device companies need to enhance their R&D capabilities, leading to increased demands for equipment and financing; thus, financial leasing is naturally a highly favorable option.”

Furthermore, from the perspective of the development needs of the real economy, China’s domestic economy is entering a transition period, shifting from “high-speed” growth to “high-quality” growth. This shift demands that economic development “move away from speculation and return to fundamentals” and undergo “deleveraging,” which will also facilitate the continued expansion of companies that remain committed to the core principles of financial leasing business.

“Innovation-driven development is essential for the healthcare industry. To build core technologies and establish technical barriers, support from financial instruments and financial companies is required. Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing will deepen its engagement in the big health sector to support the growth of innovative enterprises,” said Liu Shouquan.

“Since its planning and establishment in 2012, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing has completed its first five years.” Liu Shouquan told VCBeat, “2018 marks the first year of Zhongguancun Technology Leasing’s second five-year period, as well as the starting point for its renewed entrepreneurial journey.”

Over the next five years, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing will adhere to a development strategy centered on specialization, investment banking orientation, and digitalization. By innovating its financial leasing service models, the company will introduce various “Leasing+” solutions—such as “Leasing + Credit,” “Leasing + Investment,” and “Leasing + Factoring”—to build a comprehensive, multi-tiered financing structure for innovative enterprises, thereby ensuring their financing needs are met.

Meanwhile, Liu Shouquan also mentioned that Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing will gradually explore a model combining financial and non-financial services, providing enterprises with personalized management services, industrial synergy services, and access to policy support—including administrative approval assistance, talent acquisition, and government subsidies.

“The shift from ‘selling products’ to ‘selling services’ is a key consideration for many manufacturers. As a financial company, we are also exploring the expansion from core financial services to derivative services, aiming to provide more comprehensive solutions for enterprises. Our capital background and resource advantages can further facilitate the implementation of this service model,” said Liu Shouquan. In its business expansion, Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing will also prioritize financial risk control, strictly prohibiting channel and quasi-channel businesses, thereby ensuring both “volume” and “quality.”

According to Liu Shouquan, an investment fund involving Zhongguancun Technology Leasing is also in intensive preparation. In the future, Zhongguancun Technology Leasing will use this to build a financial and venture capital service ecosystem featuring “investment-leasing linkage.”

Geographically, Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing currently primarily serves sci-tech innovation enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Once its business model matures, the company plans to gradually expand its operations to other economic and innovation hubs, such as the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta. Over the next three years, Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing intends to deploy RMB 15 billion in financing to support the development of 500–600 sci-tech innovation enterprises.

Healthcare big data is a critical foundational strategic resource for the nation, rapidly evolving into a new generation of information technology and novel healthcare service models. The application of big data permeates the entire medical process, including drug research and development, clinical diagnosis and treatment, insurance payment and commercial insurance design, as well as health management and public health services, exerting a profound impact on the future development of the healthcare industry.

At the national level, in 2017, under the leadership of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, three major health and medical big data groups dominated by state-owned capital were officially established, marking the entry of health and medical big data applications into a substantive phase. Recently, initiated by China Electronics Data, the national team for health and medical big data—"China Health and Medical Big Data Industry Innovation Competition"Officially launched, with Zhongguancun Technology Leasing participating as a co-organizer.

As a leading financial leasing company in China, Zhongguancun Science & Technology Leasing will provide significant support for this competition, including project recommendations, roadshow evaluations, resource matchmaking, and industry support.

Zhongguancun Sci-Tech Leasing expressed its anticipation for co-organizing and participating in the competition: “With the introduction of a series of policies and documents explicitly calling for the development of the health and medical big data industry, this sector has effectively been elevated to a national strategic priority. As we primarily serve sci-tech innovation enterprises, innovative companies in the healthcare industry represent a crucial segment of our clientele. Participating in the Industry Innovation Competition will enable us to engage more closely with innovative firms in relevant fields and better support the industry’s development.”

Scan the QR code to learn more about the competition