China Guide: Invest in China giá ưu đãi

The series in China is a guide book, specially designed for foreign friends who come to China to travel, study, work and live, presenting various information in a practical and readable way. This series is currently involved in tourism, investment, study and film culture, convenient to know Chinese profiles, engaged in business activities and abroad, and introduce the Chinese film culture, guide the foreigners to better integrate into the local Chinese life, have very strong practicability.

This investment guide book offers most authoritative information about China’s investment environment, including Chinese policies related to foreign investment, such as policy on taxation and policy on land use….

CONTENTS

Chapter Ⅰ GENERAL ASPECTS

Chapter Ⅱ LEGAL SYSTEM

Chapter Ⅲ FOREIGN INVESTMENT POLICY IN CHINA

Chapter Ⅳ DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPLY-CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS

Chapter Ⅴ INVESTMENT VEHICLES

Chapter Ⅵ MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Chapter Ⅶ INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY

Chapter Ⅷ INDUSTRIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Chapter Ⅸ TAX

Chapter Ⅹ EMPLOYMENT

Chapter Ⅺ REAL ESTATE

Chapter Ⅻ DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND PREVENTION

Appendix: CATALOGUE FOR THE GUIDANCE OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT INDUSTRIES

1. Taxes Levied on FIEs

The main types of tax applicable to FIEs can be divided into two groups depending on the tax levying authorities: taxes levied by tax bureaus and customs duties levied by Customs:

A. Taxes levied by tax bureaus

I. Turnover taxes on business transactions, including:

− Value Added Tax.

− Business Tax.

− Consumption Tax.

II. Taxes on income, including:

− Enterprise Income Tax.

− Individual Income Tax.

III. Taxes on property and on certain transactions or expenditures, including:

− City Maintenance and Construction Tax.

− Deed Tax.

− Stamp Duty.

B. Customs duties levied by Customs

1.1 Value Added Tax

Value Added Tax applies when entities sell, manufacture, process, or repair tangible goods in, or import such goods to, China. Different taxation methods apply to normal and small-scale taxpayers, and there are also provisions on Value Added Tax refunds and exemptions. It is advisable for foreign investors to carry out tax planning in advance of establishing FIEs, which are subject to Value Added Tax in China.

1.1.1 Value Added Tax regime for normal taxpayers

Enterprises subject to Value Added Tax must go through a special procedure to be recognized as normal taxpayers; otherwise they will fall into the category of small-scale taxpayers. The general Value Added Tax rate for normal taxpayers is 17%, and a reduced rate of 13% is applied to certain products, e.g., agricultural products, books, water, gas, oil and milk.

To compute the Value Added Tax payable, normal taxpayers need to separately calculate the output tax and the input tax for the current period. They are entitled to issue special Value Added Tax invoices. The input tax should be deducted from the output tax in order to calculate the Value Added Tax payable.

The formula for computing the tax payable is as follows:

Tax payable = Output tax payable for the current period − Input tax for the current period

Output tax = Sales volume in the current period x Applicable tax rate

1.1.2 Value Added Tax regime for small-scale taxpayers

The requisites for qualifying as a small-scale taxpayer are set by the relevant regulations. Unless they are recognized as normal taxpayers by the tax authorities through the recognition procedures, enterprises subject to Value Added Tax will usually pay that tax as small-scale taxpayers.

Until the end of 2008, small-scale taxpayers are taxed on the basis of the revenue derived from sales of goods or provision of taxable services at the Value Added Tax rate of 4% (for the commercial sector) or 6% (for the industrial sector). As from January 1, 2009, the aforementioned rate shall be 3% for both sectors.

The computing formula for the Value Added Tax payable by small-scale taxpayers is:

Tax payable = Sales amount x Applicable rate

Since small-scale taxpayers are not entitled to deduct input Value Added Tax from the tax payable, they are not, in principle, allowed to issue Value Added Tax invoices and must apply to the tax authorities each time before issuing a Value Added Tax invoice to normal taxpayers.

Introduction

In recent years, China has become one of the world’s leading economic powers (in 2010, it overtook Japan to become the second largest economy on the planet in GDP terms, behind the US). This economic development took place in the space of over 30 years as it has to be remembered that until the end of the 70s, China was closed to the outside world and during that period (first the Imperial reign, then its short experience as a republic, followed by the establishment of the People’s Republic, with The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution), commercial relations between China and the outside world were virtually non-existent.

It should also be noted that following the breakup of the USSR, China repealed a number of the Sovietinspired laws it had passed and after the Cultural Revolution, China had no legal system for almost 20 years, which obviously greatly hindered the development of the country and its economy.

All of this changed with the reform and opening up of the country instigated by Deng Xiao Ping who, with his “open door” policy, began, from 1979 onwards, to open China up to the world. This resulted in one of the greatest economic transformations the world has seen in recent times and which radically changed the position of China and the rest of the world. Subsequently, a growing and continuous flow of foreign investment began to enter China, and today it is the second largest recipient of foreign investment in the world.

Growing foreign investment in China has also given rise to massive legislative developments in the country, which has enacted thousands of important laws and rules in recent years, providing commercial transactions with increased legal certainty. To give you an idea of the scale of the legislative change that has taken place in China in recent times, in the last five years alone China has amended, inter alia, the following fundamental laws:

Catalog of foreign investments.

Company law.

Antitrust law.

Bankruptcy law.

Property law.

Real estate legislation.

It could almost be said that in recent years, China has completely overhauled its entire legal system.

Furthermore, China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 obliged it to open up its economy to foreign investment to an even greater degree and left it with no choice but to amend and adapt a significant portion of its laws in order to comply with the commitments it assumed in the context of the WTO.

Lastly, it must be taken into account that despite all of the abovementioned progress, the Chinese economy is still not fully open to the outside world and, as a result, foreign investors still sometimes find themselves subject to a legislative framework that differs from that applicable to national investors. This, together with the obstacles inherent in a culture and language that are so different, makes it even more difficult for foreign investors to do business in China.

This ad hoc system of rules takes the form of laws and provisions that subject foreign investment to administrative authorizations and approvals, registrations, additional requirements and, in some cases, restrictions that allow the Chinese government to control and select the type of investment it wishes to attract. This difference in treatment used to have a positive aspect in terms of the policy on tax incentives for foreign investment, which the Chinese government applied paradoxically with the aim of standardizing the tax treatment of national and foreign investors until its almost total abolition in January 2008.

In addition to the above, it must be noted that the Chinese legal system, although to a lesser extent than one might think, is influenced by the peculiarities of its recent history and current political situation. For example, the ownership of land located in urban areas continues to belong to the Chinese state while land located in rural areas or on city outskirts belongs, in general, to collective economic organizations. Nevertheless, individuals and legal entities can hold a right to use land, (known as a land use right) for a period of time depending on each concession and on the use of the land in question (e.g. residential, industrial or educational). Moreover, and to greater extent following the reforms of recent years, labor legislation stands out for the protection it affords workers which, in certain areas, even rises above the levels to which we are accustomed in European countries with higher levels of protection. We hope this book will help minimize the difficulties described above, allowing foreign investors in China to reduce the uncertainties that are inherent in a country that is so different from their own, and at the same time facilitate trade and investment between China and other countries.