The China Development Bank and the Tianjin Binhai New Area (TBNA) have signed an agreement to set up a venture capital fund to boost high-technology start-ups in the fastest-growing economic zone in North China.

A statement posted yesterday on the website of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), www.most.gov.cn, unveiled the joint effort to kick off the first government-backed venture capital fund, worth 2 billion yuan ($270 million), with equal contributions from the bank and the TBNA.

The fund is organized according to the prevailing corporate framework used in Western countries. It will include stakeholders' meetings, a board of directors and a supervisors committee, the website said.