More tax breaks for small Chinese firms

BEIJING -- More small businesses in China will enjoy tax breaks as part of the government's efforts to promote their growth and counter pressure on economic growth, the State Council announced following a meeting on Wednesday.

From Oct 1 to the end of 2015, any company with a monthly revenue under 30,000 yuan ($4,886) will be exempted from value-added tax and business tax, according to a statement.

Currently, the threshold for the favorable policy is 20,000 yuan.

The move comes after the State Council announced in April that companies with annual taxable income under 100,000 yuan will have their business income tax halved from Jan. 1 this year till the end of 2016.

A statement issued after the meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, deemed small and micro firms as the "main force" of development, the "main channel" for job creation and an "important source of innovation."

The Chinese government is also mulling other support measures for small businesses, said the statement.

It was decided at the meeting to accelerate removal of unnecessary certification and qualification procedures so as to "lower the threshold and eliminate hurdles" for small firms.

Financing support is also set to be enhanced. The government said it will use "subsidies" and "incentives" to encourage financial institutions to provide more finance to small firms.

The statement also promised subsidies for small firms employing people with difficulties in finding jobs, as well as free training to help them secure big data information services supported by cloud computing.

The State Council urged all regions and departments to make sure all these policies are implemented as soon as possible, without giving a detailed timetable.

Small and micro firms are a vital foundation for Chinese economic growth. By the end of 2013, there were about 11.7 million such companies in China, accounting for 76.6 percent of the total number of firms in the country, according to the State Administration of Taxation.

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