REGIONS

Taxation on Real Estate Rental Income in China

Including city-specific details on Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen

Feb. 7 – Both Chinese nationals and a foreign individuals are subject to a combination of taxes on real estate rental income: including individual income tax (IIT), business tax (BT), property tax (PT), urban maintenance and construction tax (UMCT) and an education surcharge (ES).

If simply left to adding up all those rates according to each specific tax law, the taxation on individual rental income would end up pretty high. However, in a move to energize China’s housing supply market, the Chinese government began offering some tax incentives starting in 2008. Continue reading →

Posted in Central China, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, South China | Tagged China Business Tax, China Chengdu, China Education Surcharge, China Guangzhou, China Individual Income Tax, China Individual Rental Income, China Individual Rental Tax, China Property Tax, China Shenzhen, China Urban Maintenence and Construction Tax | Leave a comment

Relax. South China Exports and Manufacturers are Doing Just Fine

Op/Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Feb. 1 – With some media spotlighting potential problems in South China – and one blog even going so far as to suggest smart Chinese businessmen are queuing up to attract orders, only to deliberately declare bankruptcy – it’s time to look again at the realities of the situation. The actual business environment in South China is something we are qualified to discuss with some knowledge – our firm, Dezan Shira & Associates, has four regional offices there (Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhongshan) and has conducted business in the region for 20 years, while our Regional Partner Alberto Vettoretti is an adviser to the Shenzhen Government. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, FDI and Foreign Trade, Manufacturing, South China | Tagged China Exports, China Manufacturing, Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Dezan Shira & Associates, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, South China, Zhongshan | 9 Comments

American Express Extends Reach to China’s e-Payment Market

By Vivian Ni

Jan. 30 – Although China has made it more difficult for foreign investors to enter its e-payment sector over the last year, the potential profits offered by the country’s massive consumer population are proving too attractive to miss. Recently, American Express – the U.S. financial service provider that has long considered China as its critical strategic market – established a new partnership with a growing Chinese payment service company, Lianlian Group, by means of equity investment and technology authorization.

AmEx said on January 18 that it will license its digital wallet Serve – a next-generation commerce technology developed to target lower-end consumers – to the Zhejiang-based Lianlian Group. The Chinese company will be allowed to apply the technology in its payment services, but will not necessarily use the Serve brand. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, East China, Markets, Technology | Tagged American Express, China Online Payment Lisence, China Online Payment Market, China Third-party Payment Market, Lianlian Group, People's Bank of China, Tencent TenPay | Leave a comment

Shanghai Offers Fiscal Support to Promote VAT Reform

Jan. 30 – Shanghai’s newly included value-added tax (VAT) payers (pilot enterprises) may be able to receive fiscal compensation if they see increases in their actual tax burdens under the new tax scheme, local authorities said recently.

The focus of the ongoing VAT reform is to reduce duplicate taxation and extend supply chains that are eligible for VAT deductions, the local government emphasized. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, East China, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update | Tagged China VAT, Shanghai Fiscal Compensation to VAT Reform, Shanghai Pilot Taxpayers, Shanghai VAT Reform | Leave a comment

Guangzhou Simplifies Electronic VAT Declaration Procedures

Jan. 19 – Guangzhou’s value-added tax (VAT) small-scale taxpayers are no longer required to submit paper declaration forms when they file electronic VAT declarations.

According to the “Announcement on Canceling Paper Declaration Form Submissions During Small-Scale Taxpayers’ Electronic VAT Declaration (Guangzhou SAT Announcement [2012] No.1),” starting on January 15, VAT small-scale taxpayers that pay VAT based on auditing results and file VAT declarations electronically are not required to submit paper declaration forms anymore. Continue reading →

Posted in Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, South China | Tagged China Guangzhou VAT, China Tax, China Value Added Tax, China VAT Small-scale Taxpayer, Guangzhou, Online VAT Declaration, South China, Telephone VAT Declaration, VAT Declaration | Leave a comment

Zhejiang to Invest RMB2 Billion into Oceanic Economy

Jan. 17 – In order to exploit its massive “oceanic productivity potential,” the Chinese eastern coastal province of Zhejiang is looking to establish a special RMB1 billion fund for the development of its oceanic economy, and another separate RMB1 billion fund for the promotion of its oceanic industries.

The RMB2 billion investment will mainly focus on the advancement of emerging oceanic industries, the development as well as protection of important islands, the expansion of bulk commodity exchange centers, and the improvement of port logistics information interconnection as well as interchange throughout Northeast Asia. Continue reading →

Posted in East China, FDI and Foreign Trade, Shipping & Logistics | Tagged China Bulk Commodity Exchange, China Logistics, China Oceanic Industries, China Shipping, China Uninhabited Island Development, China Zhejiang Oceanic Economy, Northeast Asia Port Logistics, Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago | Leave a comment

Twenty Years Ago, Deng Changed China Forever

The “socialist market economy” was born this week in 1992

Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Jan. 16 – An anniversary occurs this week that may well go unnoticed by many – the 20th year since Deng Xiaoping, China’s premier at the time, visited Shenzhen as part of an unusual South China tour. To set the scene to recall why this was so important an event is to remember that China had not really fully opened up its economy on the back of reforms instigated by Deng in the late 1980s. What had at one stage seemed to be a sincere movement to open the country up came to a shuddering halt in the aftermath of the Tiananmen incident. I was in China at that time, employed by Asia Law & Practice (now part of Euromoney) – it was to be a further few months before I was to establish my firm, Dezan Shira & Associates. That I did so was almost entirely down to Deng’s visit. Continue reading →

Posted in Culture and History, Economy and Politics, South China | Tagged Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Deng Xiaoping, Opening Up, Shekou, Shenzhen, South China, Tour of South China | Leave a comment

Guangdong Party Boss Warns CPPCC of Hard Times Ahead

Jan. 13 – Wang Yang, the head of the Communist Party for China’s wealthy Guangdong Province, has alerted the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that the province faces a tough and difficult year ahead in 2012. Guangdong is by far the richest province in China, having boomed during China’s export crescendo, but has been hit with rising labor costs and falling orders. Many businesses in the province over the last three years have either closed or relocated to cheaper destinations in China or to Vietnam, Bangladesh or India.

Yang told the CCPPC that the next 12 months would likely be the toughest the province would face in the past 30 years of China’s reform and development, and stated the province “sat on the edge of economic difficulty, social conflicts and even political risk.” Continue reading →