National Business Daily:

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council place great importance on the development of the private sector. My question is, what factors do the tax authorities weigh up when trying to encourage and support the development of this sector? Thanks. 

Wang Jun:

Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted that private enterprises and private entrepreneurs are in our ranks. As the head of the STA, my feeling is: they are family. Contributing more than 50% of tax revenue, the private sector is central to ensuring China's national strength. Therefore, our attitude to the private sector is consistent in three aspects.

First, in terms of policy implementation, private enterprises will always be treated impartially. Over the past five years, private enterprises have collectively enjoyed tax cuts, fee reductions, refunds, and deferred tax and fee payments of more than 8 trillion yuan, roughly 70% of the total. Notably, after the state introduced a series of tax and fee support policies, 80% of self-employed individuals in the private sector are no longer required to pay taxes. Going forward, we will continue to actively participate in and diligently implement various tax and fee support policies that benefit private enterprises, just as we have always done.

Second, regarding tax and fee services, we will always attach great importance to providing meticulous care to private enterprises. Approximately 80% of the national taxation departments' service resources are directed towards private enterprises. Additionally, roughly 80% of the current suite of tax and fee service measures are designed to benefit micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as well as self-employed individuals, which constitute the majority of private enterprises. The STA has established a service office for micro and small enterprises under the tax service department and has collaborated with the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce for two consecutive years to launch a special campaign aimed at assisting micro and small enterprises. This year, we will introduce a range of new service measures.

Third, we will consistently spare no effort to support private enterprises in terms of providing relief and addressing challenges. Over the past five years, we have actively deepened tax-bank cooperation to address the financing challenges faced by private enterprises. We have utilized corporate tax credit information as an important reference for financial institutions to provide loans to private enterprises, especially micro and small enterprises. This has helped them secure 22.46 million bank loans amounting to 6.22 trillion yuan. Currently and in the future, there may still be some challenges in the supply chain of the private enterprise industry. To address this, we are developing and continually improving the "National Taxpayer Supply Chain Query" platform and related services to assist private enterprises in expanding their supply-demand connections. This will help promote private enterprises to reinforce their weak links. Thank you.