Guangdong Gov’t Accelerates Financial High-tech Service Industry

Aug. 26 – The Guangdong provincial government approved a plan to create a new financial services investment park last week aimed at accelerating the financial high-tech service industry in the province.

According to the plan issued on August 17, the government will build a financial services industrial park that will feature R&D centers, data processing centers, call centers, disaster recovery centers, training centers, and insurance asset management centers to support the business. Read the rest of this entry »

Investing in Shenzhen, China’s Main Export Hub

Aug. 26 – Shenzhen celebrates the thirtieth year of its unique status of being a Special Economic Zone today, a development that ushered the entire redevelopment, reform and opening up of the entire country. Once a small fishing village, it was chosen by Deng Xiaoping to be the first of the special economic zones in China. It was formally established in May, 1980 due to its proximity to Hong Kong, then part of the United Kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »

Import Tax on Mail to Impact Mail Orders from Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Aug. 4 – China’s new Customs tax on personal mail, which begins September 1, will effectively end the practice in Hong Kong of earning commissions for sending packages to Mainland China.

The new regulations will impose an import tax on personally mailed items into China. For individuals sending or receiving items from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, import duties will be waived for packages with a dutiable value of under RMB50. Previously, import duties were waived on parcels form Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan if the duty was below RMB400. Read the rest of this entry »

TOM Group–China Post JV Announced

HONG KONG, Aug. 4 – TOM Group, Hong Kong’s media and communications giant, announced plans for the formation of a massive joint venture with China’s postal service to create the mainland’s largest e-commerce services provider.

The JV, to be named Beijing Ule E-Commerce, will be 51 percent owned by China Post. TOM Group is investing through their Shenzhen-based NewECLink subsidiary and will be the exclusive IT systems provider for the business, providing an additional US$30 million to market the new platform. Read the rest of this entry »

Pro-Cantonese Protesters Rally in Guangdong

GUANGZHOU, Aug. 2 – Hundreds of people gathered in Guangzhou on Sunday in a show of support for the local Cantonese dialect, leading to scuffles with police and the brief detention of a small group of reporters and protesters.

The gathering was sparked by a government proposal to switch local television programming from Cantonese to Mandarin Chinese.

The proposal, made by the local committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Guangzhou to replace some prime time Cantonese television programming with Mandarin programs, was ostensibly aimed at catering to visitors to the city for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in November. Read the rest of this entry »

Guangzhou Gov’t Clarifies VAT General Taxpayer Issues

Jul. 21 – The Guangzhou municipal tax bureau recently clarified some regulations affecting VAT general taxpayers during their guidance period.

According to the notice, the tax registration office will approve the registered capital, which may refer to the total registered capital if it is the registered capital of a branch. For taxpayers who are not required to input registered capital when registering with the industrial and commercial authorities (such as sole proprietorship and partnerships), the registered capital shall then be deemed as zero. Read the rest of this entry »

Hong Kong Signs Double Tax Agreements with Eight Countries

HONG KONG, Jul. 12 – Hong Kong has signed comprehensive double tax agreements (DTAs) with eight countries since March.

The special administrative region now has DTAs with Brunei, Indonesia, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Kuwait, Ireland and the United Kingdom following the exchange of information model from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Read the rest of this entry »

Guangdong Province Moves to Upgrade VAT Collection Software

Jun. 29 – The Guangdong provincial government recently moved to upgrade the means of collecting VAT offset invoices from enterprises.

In a circular issued on June 24, the provincial government emphasized the importance of enterprises updating their VAT offset invoices collection software in accordance with the “Notice on the Security System Issues for Newly-Established General Taxpayers.” The updated version of VAT offset invoice collection software should be V6.15 on the security billing system and should have an A13 Fiscal Golden Tax card with 108 ciphers on the special VAT invoices. Read the rest of this entry »

Hong Kong Incorporations for Mainland China Business

By Joe Sze

HONG KONG, Jun. 11 – Multinational companies looking at the Mainland China market often look at tax efficient or other legal ways to prepare and protect themselves from directly triggering bilateral interactions between the mainland and the ultimate parent company. In such instances, Hong Kong incorporations are a useful tool to utilize to “hold” a mainland China entity and take advantage of both financial and operational considerations in doing so.

The advantages of using a Hong Kong incorporation vary from the pragmatic to the financial. Here are several reasons why Hong Kong incorporations continue to be the investment vehicle of choice to hold mainland China-based investments. Read the rest of this entry »

State Council Approves Shenzhen SEZ Expansion

Jun. 11 – The State Council has recently approved the application from the Guangdong provincial government, to expand the scope of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, effective July 1.

Guohan [2010] No. 45, issued on June 8th, further expands the scope of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone to the entire city, and also include Baoan district and Longgang district. The notice aims to enhance innovation and the scientific development capacity in Shenzhen, and promote healthy and balanced economic development. Read the rest of this entry »

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