BEIJING, Aug. 11 -- China has introduced ex-post funding into its scientific and technological funding scheme to encourage enterprises to play a key role in innovation, said the country's science authority on Monday.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) published a statement on its official website, explaining the purposes and technical issues surrounding the new rule on ex-post scientific funding which came into effect in November last year.

The MOST said, for scientific projects aimed at market application, enterprises should play a key role, therefore they should organize research and development (R&D) with funds raised by themselves. The government will mainly provide ex-post funding.

The purpose is to have market determine which innovation projects to pursue and evaluate research outcomes, according to the MOST statement.

Moreover, the ex-post funding system will direct state investment to R&D projects that have already produced results, which will prevent embezzlement, and enhance the efficiency of scientific and technological budget, according to the MOST.

Previously, the government mainly offered ex-ante grands to innovation projects.

There are three categories of ex-post funding. The first is for national scientific programs targeted at industrialization. The second is a reward for enterprises who apply their innovations to solving practical problems. The third category is for R&D projects in the social service sector.