The Qingdao Natural Science Foundation and the Haier Joint Foundation say they have come together help fund many new technologies, including the use of RFID.

The three main disparate business sectors that will be covered by the grants will be ice storage freezing, network home appliance gateways and RFID implementation for home appliance manufacturers.

Haier, Hisense and Xiyingmen Group have also become the first group of enterprises in the province to set up a natural science foundation and will work together in these three sectors.

The Qingdao Natural Science Joint Foundation is aimed at supporting applications and basic research with social and technological resources so as to push forward a combination of technological innovation of enterprises with production, study and research and to improve Chinese enterprises' competitiveness.

The use of RFID among the businesses is important as home appliance manufacturers plan to use more RFID-enabled solutions in microwaves, refrigerators, and other appliances in the coming year.