Matsui's technology center upgraded to national level, successfully joining the "national technology team"

On November 30, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the list of candidates for the 29th batch (2022) of National Enterprise Technology Centers. Hunan Songjing New Materials Co., Ltd.'s enterprise technology center was officially recognized as a National Enterprise Technology Center for its strong independent innovation capabilities. This is reportedly the only company in the coatings industry to be recognized as a national-level enterprise technology center this year, signifying that Songjing's research, development, and innovation capabilities are leading the industry. 
The National Enterprise Technology Center is one of the highest-specification and most influential technological innovation platforms in China. It is a crucial component of the national technological innovation system. It refers to a technology research and development and innovation institution established by an enterprise based on market competition needs. It is responsible for formulating the enterprise's technological innovation plan, conducting industrial technology research and development, creating and utilizing intellectual property rights, establishing a technical standards system, cultivating and training innovative talents, building a collaborative innovation network, and promoting the implementation of the entire technological innovation process. The state recognizes and provides policy support to enterprise technology centers that meet the conditions, have strong innovation capabilities, good innovation mechanisms, and significant leading and exemplary roles, based on the requirements of innovation-driven development and the needs of economic restructuring. 
According to the introduction, enterprises applying for the National Enterprise Technology Center are required to have significant development and competitive advantages in the industry, and possess industry-leading technological innovation capabilities and levels; the enterprise has a good technological innovation mechanism, a sound organizational system for the enterprise technology center, and significant innovation efficiency and effectiveness; the enterprise has high research and development investment, with annual research and experimental development expenditure not less than 15 million yuan; it has a technical leader with high technical level and rich practical experience, and the number of full-time research and experimental development personnel is not less than 150; it has relatively complete research, development, and testing conditions, and the original value of technical development instruments and equipment is not less than 20 million yuan; it has good technical accumulation, attaches importance to the development of cutting-edge technologies, and has the ability to carry out high-level technological innovation activities. 
     Songjing was established in March 2009 and listed on the STAR Market in June 2020. It focuses on the research, development, production, and sales of new functional coating materials in the high-end consumer electronics and passenger vehicle fields. It has four subsidiaries: Songrun New Materials, Ouhashi Chemical, Beichi Technology, and Xinyicheng Technology. The company provides customers with a one-stop "interactive" independent research and development and "customized flexible manufacturing" solution for various types of materials, including coatings, inks, and adhesives. The company has established the Beijing Songjing Research Institute, Hunan Songjing Research Institute, and Guangdong Songjing Research Institute, focusing on the needs of national strategic emerging industries and conducting research to solve common key technical problems in the fields of surface treatment, coatings, and integrated corrosion protection solutions; it has built two provincial-level scientific and technological platforms: the Hunan Provincial UV Polymer Coating Engineering Technology Research Center and the Hunan Provincial Recognized Enterprise Technology Center, and has the ability to integrate social R&D resources; it conducts joint research and development with universities such as Sun Yat-sen University, Central South University, and Hunan University on basic research topics. The company currently has 159 R&D personnel, and R&D investment accounts for about 10% of operating income. By the end of 2021, the company had accumulated 2 internationally authorized patents and 88 nationally authorized patents. It is worth mentioning that Songjing and Hunan University jointly established a new R&D entity in 2020—Hunan Songjing Advanced Surface Treatment and Functional Coating Research Institute Co., Ltd. The institute is driven by national major needs and focuses on cutting-edge technologies such as surface treatment, functional coatings, and adhesives in fields such as 3C consumer electronics, integrated circuits, new energy vehicles, rail transit, aerospace, and marine equipment. It leverages Hunan University's advantages in basic research, technological innovation, information resources, and talent cultivation, and connects with the company's industrialization advantages to promote the rapid transformation of scientific research results into productive forces, exploring and establishing a fast track for scientific and technological achievements to enter new technological fields and a new product incubation mechanism. In 2020, Songjing also invested 450 million yuan to build a science and technology innovation comprehensive building with a total land area of approximately 9,000 square meters and a total construction area of 61,000 square meters. After the completion and commissioning of this project, it will become an important platform for the company to introduce high-level talents from home and abroad, enhance Songjing's original R&D capabilities, comprehensively improve Songjing's overall technological innovation level and core competitiveness, and provide continuous development momentum for the company's technological innovation. In the next three to five years, Songjing aims to achieve corresponding business scale in the consumer electronics and automotive fields through endogenous growth and external expansion. 
Songjing stated that in the future, the company will continue to accelerate technological innovation through a series of combinations, including deepening the construction of advanced innovation platform systems, deploying high-value tracks, and strengthening key technological breakthroughs in key areas. While consolidating and enhancing its market competitiveness in the 3C industry and automotive parts application fields, it will enter the automotive whole vehicle market and the automotive aftermarket, actively deploying special coatings in fields such as rail transit, aerospace, and marine equipment, and participating in competition with differentiated technologies and products, moving towards its grand vision of becoming a "global leader in the field of new functional coating materials." The "Nationally Recognized Enterprise Technology Center" is the highest-level enterprise innovation platform in China, aiming to leverage the leading role of enterprises in technological R&D and enhance the R&D and innovation capabilities of enterprise technology centers, playing a leading and exemplary role in the industry. The recognition of Songjing's technology center as a "Nationally Recognized Enterprise Technology Center" is of great significance to the company in terms of enjoying certain corporate tax incentives and special subsidies, enhancing its comprehensive strength, and developing high-end markets at home and abroad. As the source and core of enterprise technological innovation, it is also an affirmation of the company's technological innovation and R&D capabilities, which is conducive to attracting technical talents, improving independent innovation capabilities, and enhancing core competitiveness.