China to lower corporate fees to boost real economy

BEIJING - China will lower corporate fees by more than 300 billion yuan (about $47.6 billion) annually to further boost development of the real economy.

The decision was made at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

The latest round of reductions will cover fees related to water conservancy projects, energy use and logistics, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The government will scrap fees for administrative procedures like first-time applications for citizen identity cards and patent registrations, it said.

Interim policies on payment for employee pensions, unemployment insurance and employment injury insurance will be extended to April 30, 2019, while policies on public housing accumulation funds will be extended to April 30, 2020 in a bid to help businesses cut cost, improve economic returns and bring benefits to employees.

The burden on enterprises in the payment of employment security funds for disabled people will also be lowered, according to the statement.

China will cut telecommunication charges to boost the development of the digital economy, with domestic data roaming fees to be abolished starting July 1 to ensure a more than 30-percent reduction in data fees this year.

Meanwhile, the government will push for lower fees for family broadband packages, exclusive network services for medium and small enterprises and overseas roaming services.

The meeting also agreed to roll out more incentives to attract overseas Chinese students back to China, including simplifying procedures for residence registration and measures to support innovation and entrepreneurship.