Applicants who meet the following conditions may apply for the cash rebate:

1. A company incorporated in Hong Kong under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), or an enterprise registered in Hong Kong under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310); and
2. a non-government-funded organisation; and
3. a subsidiary of a non-government-funded organisation

For the two types of applied R&D below, local firms receive funding equal to their spending40%cash rebate –

1. R&D projects funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund, called Fund projects; and
2. An R&D project that a local enterprise carries out with a designated local public research institution and sponsors in full, called a partner project.

For partner projects, the cash rebate does not cover the following work:

1. Product improvement or customisation with no research content, and ordinary business operations, such as product design and routine system automation.
2. in-house R&D by local companies; and
3. Research outside technology, such as market research and management studies