In the summer season, in the workshop of Shaanxi Zhiyu Tianchengyuan Technology Co., Ltd., Professor Zhang Yin from the School of Physics at Xi'an Jiaotong University was wearing work clothes and staring at the parameter curves on the control screen with engineers. No matter how cutting-edge deep learning is, it cannot just revolve around papers and models. In the end, it has to fall onto the production line and become materials refined in the furnace or rolled up by machines in order to be truly useful, "said Zhang Yin. In 2025, this scholar who has been deeply involved in the fields of magnetism, magnetic materials, and AI assisted material design will be officially appointed as the "Vice President of Science and Technology" of Zhiyu Tianchengyuan.
Zhang Yin's "legitimacy" is a systematic exploration by Shaanxi Province to break down institutional barriers and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into new quality productivity. As a major province in science and education with over 110 universities and 1800 research institutions, Shaanxi has long faced the challenge of "not daring to transfer, unwilling to transfer, and lacking funds to transfer" scientific and technological achievements. In 2021, Shaanxi Province took institutional and mechanism reform as a breakthrough point to carry out the "three reforms" pilot program of separate management of job-related scientific and technological achievements, evaluation of technology transfer talents and professional titles, and transformation of scientific and technological achievements funded by surplus funds from horizontal scientific research projects in universities and colleges throughout the province, freeing researchers from constraints.
As of June 2026, Shaanxi has implemented separate asset management for 118000 job-related scientific and technological achievements, transferred and transformed 55600 scientific and technological achievements, and established 3390 new enterprises for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, providing replicable practical experience for western provinces to solve the problem of "innovation islands".
Single row management unloads the burden of state-owned assets that dare not be transferred
For a long time, the assets of job-related scientific and technological achievements have been managed as general state-owned assets. Once impairment occurs during the transformation process, both the unit and researchers may be held accountable. The common mentality among many universities and colleges is to lock oneself in a drawer rather than take the risk of conversion.
The first blow of Shaanxi's "Three Reforms" targeted this institutional crux. The reform clarifies that the state-owned assets formed by the transformation of job-related scientific and technological achievements will be removed from the current state-owned asset management system, managed and assessed separately, and not included in the scope of state-owned asset preservation and appreciation management assessment. The management authority has been transferred from the state-owned assets department to the scientific research management department, freeing researchers from the fear of responsibility.
It is this reform that has transformed the thin film temperature sensitive chip technology of Luo Jian, a young teacher at Northwestern Polytechnical University, from an "asset on the books" to a "converted capital". In the past, the evaluation process for intellectual property valuation and investment could have been delayed for more than half a year. Now, in less than a month, the evaluation and related procedures have been completed, helping it establish Xi'an Lixin Huigan Technology Co., Ltd. and build China's first automated production line for thin film temperature sensitive chips, breaking the nearly 30-year monopoly of this type of product at home and abroad. This' small incision 'reform not only brings about an increase in speed, but also loosens the entire innovation chain.
Reform is not a one size fits all approach. Shaanxi allows various units to explore according to local conditions during the promotion, forming three separate management models: collaborative management, one-stop service, and segmented management. Universities such as Northwestern Polytechnical University and Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology, as well as provincial academies of science and provincial research institutes, have combined their own characteristics to establish regulations and systems, gradually awakening dormant patents.
This innovative exploration originating from Shaanxi has also been included in the Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which explicitly proposes the establishment of a separate management system for the assets of scientific and technological achievements related to positions.
Evaluating the new standards ignites the practical enthusiasm of 'unwilling to change'
Assets can be listed separately, but if the evaluation criteria remain unchanged, researchers still "refuse to transfer". In the past, professional title evaluation was mostly based on papers, awards, and academic titles, and the social contributions and economic value generated by the transformation of achievements were rarely included in the system. Many teachers admit, "It's better to publish an extra paper than to convert one order
The second strike of Shaanxi's "Three Reforms" aims at the talent evaluation baton. Reform breaks through the "four stricts" and establishes "new standards", highlighting innovation value, ability, and contribution orientation, and opening up a "green channel" for professional title evaluation for two types of personnel: one is scientific researchers who promote the transformation of achievements themselves, and are included in the "teaching and research type" professional title evaluation based on their actual contributions; The other type is technology transfer talents who specialize in the transformation of service achievements and are included in the engineering sequence evaluation, with special positions that do not account for the total number of existing professional and technical positions.
Yan Zhenguo, a teacher at Xi'an Petroleum University, is a direct beneficiary of this reform. He has long been committed to the research of visual detection equipment for oil wells. After the reform, he registered and established Xi'an Zhengshi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. at the Qinchuangyuan General Window. He developed the Huiyan 360 ° visual detection instrument and evaluation software, which has been successfully applied in oil fields such as Daqing, Changqing, Dagang, and Southwest, with a conversion value of over ten million yuan. He has also been promoted to the title of professor based on his contribution to the transformation of achievements.
Such stories are not uncommon in universities and colleges in Shaanxi. In recent years, Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology has promoted 115 people to professional titles based on their contributions to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, attracted 371 high-level entrepreneurial talents, and founded more than 100 technology-based enterprises. 1500 people in the province have achieved professional title promotion through the contribution of achievements transformation. The one inch change in the evaluation scale activates a pool of spring water in the talent team.
Activate the surplus and break through the funding dilemma of "lack of funds transfer"
When the transformation of achievements reaches the 'last mile', it is often stuck in 'money'. Venture capital institutions hope that researchers not only have technology investment, but also real investment, forming a community of shared benefits and risks; However, researchers are generally short of funds, and at the same time, a large amount of surplus funds from horizontal research projects have been idle for a long time.
The third blow of Shaanxi's "Three Reforms" targets this "dilemma". The reform allows surplus funds from horizontal scientific research projects to be invested in achievement transformation enterprises through cash contributions, forming an investment portfolio of "technology investment+cash investment". There are two specific paths: one is to convert the surplus funds into investment results for the enterprise, and reward the project completion personnel with the shares formed according to the distribution ratio; The second is to reward the project completion personnel with surplus funds according to the distribution ratio, and have their investment results transformed into enterprises. In this way, idle funds are activated and researchers have "real money" to participate in the transformation.
Professor Zhang Yanchao's team from Xi'an University of Technology is a typical representative. They will price their developed "high-speed lubrication and sealing technology" at 19.08 million yuan, with a horizontal surplus of 800000 yuan invested, and jointly establish Xi'an Aviation High end Sealing Technology Co., Ltd. with the enterprise to promote the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. Shaanxi has also launched seven work guidelines, including "use first, pay later" and "invest first, stock later", to further lower the threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises to undertake achievements. By the end of 2025, a total of 160 projects have been implemented in the Qinchuangyuan General Window in the province, and 105 projects have been transformed in other cities.
Whole chain leap to reform 'small incision' and cultivate new quality productivity 'big ecology'
The "Three Reforms" have solved the three major problems of "not daring to transfer, unwilling to transfer, and lacking funds to transfer", but Shaanxi has not stopped here. Instead, it has amplified the reform effect with a chain thinking approach, promoting the full chain leap of "research and development deepening, achievement transformation, enterprise incubation, and industrial catalysis".
At a semiconductor vacuum pump workshop in Xi'an, Associate Professor Mao Shuai from the School of Automation at Northwestern Polytechnical University is working with engineers to debug the magnetic levitation molecular pump controller. Mao Shuai is a talent introduced through the "school recruitment sharing" policy, and also serves as a technical consultant for the enterprise. He stated that relying on the "three reforms" and "school recruitment sharing", Shaanxi has embarked on a new path of "government funding, university talent sinking, and enterprise transformation and landing". Mao Shuai entered the market with 10 core patents, and newly generated patents were jointly confirmed by universities and enterprises, with clear property rights; The government's assessment does not rely on academic papers, but rather establishes a "military order" for the industry - adding 1.2 million yuan in output value and nearly 400000 yuan in profit for enterprises within three years. At present, this set of molecular pump controllers with a maximum speed of 30000 revolutions per minute has completed 5 sets of pilot production and delivery, "Mao Shuai said." The policy dividends are directly being transformed into productivity
From the diversified model of "one hospital, one school, one port, and one enterprise" to the full factor aggregation of the Qin Chuangyuan platform, the "microclimate" of Shaanxi's "three reforms" is evolving into a "big ecology" of high-quality development. Northwest Nonferrous Metals Research Institute has cultivated a total of 49 technology-based enterprises; Xi'an Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has invested in incubating 616 technology enterprises under the "Xiguang Model", with a total valuation of 791 billion yuan; Northwestern Polytechnical University has valued 470 patents at 863 million yuan and invested in 84 enterprises that have transformed their achievements; The Western China Science and Technology Innovation Port has signed agreements with 248 leading enterprises to jointly establish research institutes (centers), build more than 140 "scientists+engineers" R&D teams, and solve more than 2500 technical problems for enterprises.
Even more exciting is that the dividends of reform are being transmitted to the industrial sector. By 2025, the output value growth rate of industries such as solar photovoltaics, additive manufacturing, and photonics in Shaanxi Province's large-scale industries will all exceed double digits; The non-ferrous metals and new materials industry has formed the largest rare metal materials industry cluster in China, while the semiconductor and integrated circuit industry ranks fourth in scale nationwide; The total transaction volume of technology contracts in the province reached 526 billion yuan, which is 2.93 times that of 2021; The number of high-tech enterprises reached 21500, and the number of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises reached 33900.
From "not daring to transform" to "actively transforming", from "laboratory" to "production line", Shaanxi has opened up the "last mile" of scientific and technological achievements transformation through the "three reforms", not only painting a strong mark for technological innovation in the 14th Five Year Plan, but also accumulating surging momentum for cultivating new quality production capacity and building a modern industrial system in the 15th Five Year Plan. (Outlook New Era)