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China will tighten measures and
mechanisms to curb arbitrary charges on enterprises, said the State
Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. The
meeting noted that in recent years, various localities and competent
departments have worked hard to overhaul business-related charges.
Administrative charges by the central government and government-managed
funds have been cut by 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively, and
local governments have scraped a large number of charges. "The
tax and fee cuts rolled out last year, as well as the policy to
temporarily cut or exempt enterprises' social insurance contributions,
have played a vital role in ensuring the stable operations of market
entities and keeping the fundamentals of the economy stable," Li said. The
meeting noted that given the current complexity in the epidemic and
economic situations, market entities are still faced with many
difficulties. The problem of arbitrary levy of charges must be tackled
in terms of both symptoms and root causes, to lessen the burden on
enterprises, and strengthen the foundation for steady economic recovery. Inspections
targeting unwarranted charges on enterprises shall be carried out
nationwide to seriously deal with such issues as arbitrarily imposing
new charges, raising charging standards, and expanding charging scope
and willful apportionment. Self-examinations and random inspections of
fees charged by industry associations shall be carried out across the
board. Law enforcement in
transportation, taxation and emergency management shall be better
regulated. Discretionary standards will be formulated carefully. Minor
violations, first-time or occasional offenders in road traffic shall be
handled more with warning than fines. A list-based mechanism, where
first violation will not be punished, shall be promoted in the law
enforcement in the taxation sector. The mechanism on managing fines and
confiscations will be better enforced and refined. All fines and
confiscated revenues shall be turned over to the state coffers, and
revenues and expenditures will be managed separately. "The
economy is still recovering, and the foundation is not solid. We need
to let enterprises feel how much the government cares about their
survival and development and resolutely curb arbitrary charges on
enterprises," Li said. Charges in key
areas will continue to be revamped. The new government-managed funds
that charge corporate fees must observe rigorous legal procedures. All
maturing funds must be canceled if conditions permit, and charging
standards shall be lowered regarding those that cannot be canceled for
the time being. Dynamic management of administrative charges shall be
strengthened. The charging standard that notably exceed the service
costs will be reduced, and administrative charges that involve general
management functions will be abolished. Oversight
on charges at seaports shall be stepped up. Mandatory service charges
and pricing irregularities will be duly investigated and dealt with,
including those in customs declaration, freight forwarding, logistics,
warehousing, cargo handling, inspection and quarantine processes.
Revision of relevant laws and regulations shall be accelerated,
including those on the administrative punishment of price-related
violations. Undue administrative penalties shall be revised or repealed
in a timely manner to provide institutional safeguards against arbitrary
charges on enterprises. The meeting
also urged the collection of statutory taxes and fees in an orderly
manner, and ensure no undue burden shall be added to enterprises and the
general public. No localities should
require, on their own, that previous arrears be paid off in a lump sum,
and ensure that the transfer of fee-collection responsibility shall not
add to the financial burdens on enterprises, smaller businesses in
particular. Provincial authorities shall keep the current way of payment
collection unchanged. Reform on
government functions shall be deepened, and the procedures for social
insurance payment optimized, to expand the scope of zero-contact
services. Online services shall be made available for business-related
charges by the end of July, and mobile terminal services for
individual-related items by the end of this year. Innovative measures
shall be adopted to ensure convenience for vulnerable groups such as the
elderly and people with severe disability in making these payments. Monitoring
and analysis of the collection of social insurance premiums shall be
enhanced, and any problem identified will be dealt with in a timely
manner. Oversight and inspection shall be stepped up to strictly hold
all violations accountable.
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