A vibrant night view of the Optics Valley Square in Optics Valley of China. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The 10 policies to optimize digital consumption service ecosystem released on Jan 12 by the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC) center around the expansion of industry, reducing the operational costs of enterprises, R&D innovation, and improving the environment.

Support is being granted to livestreaming and electronic sports companies to upgrade the digital consumption soft environment in Wuhan New City.

Companies which have been identified as enterprises above a designated size for the first time will receive a one-time bonus of 200,000 yuan ($27,860), while those whose annual revenue exceeds 100 million yuan, 500 million yuan and 1 billion yuan will be given corresponding financial incentives, with the maximum incentive being 100 million yuan.

Rent subsidies up to 600,000 yuan will also be issued to lower operational costs for enterprises. Multichannel network (MCN) institutions which have signed cooperation contracts with top livestreamers will also be granted a bonus of up to 3 million yuan.

High-end talent in the industry will be subsidized at 80,000 yuan per year, while enterprises which hire them will be subsidized at 3,000 yuan per talent per year.

Digital giants including Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu have laid out their second headquarters or branch institutions in the Optics Valley of China, which also boasts seven provincial-level modern service clusters, the most anywhere in Wuhan.

Over 2023, the number of newly-registered service firms above a designated size in OVC surged by nearly 300, and its for-profit service volume accounted for half of the city's total.