China implements greater tax cuts and extends support for businesses

China is set to implement greater tax cuts for businesses and more targeted support for sectors impacted by COVID-19, Premier Li Keqiang said. 

These include the services industry, as well as sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic and have large employment capacities, he said, according to Xinhua News.

The government will also be increasing deductions for research and development expenses under businesses’ income tax filings, and will aim to stabilise key sectors such as employment, financing, trade and investment. “The government must tighten its belt to give more benefits to businesses and energise the market,” said Li.

He added that the central government will boost efforts to provide general transfer payments to local authorities to plug possible funding gaps at the local level. 

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“Our country’s economy is facing new downward pressures,” he said, according to a CNN report. “It is necessary … to further cut taxes and [administrative] fees to ensure a stable economic start in the first quarter and stabilise the macro economy.”