China Regulatory Brief: Simplified Company Registration Procedures, General Plans of New FTZs Released

April 20, 2015 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 4 minutes

China to Simplify Company Registration Procedures

On April 17, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) announced its decision to simplify companies’ registration and establishment procedures. Specifically, the National organization code certificate and tax registration certificate will no longer be issued separately. Instead, the local AIC will issue a special business license to enterprises with both organization code and tax registration code on it. Further, the AIC is looking to implement a unified “business registration code” to replace the current three codes for company registration within this year. According to the latest statistics released by the AIC, 844,000 companies have been newly established in China during the first quarter of this year.

China Releases General Plans of New Free Trade Zones

On April 20, China’s State Council finally released the much-anticipated overall plans of the Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian Free Trade Zones (FTZs) approved earlier this year, as well as an updated Negative List which is applicable to all of the four FTZs in China, including the expanded Shanghai FTZ. In December last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that three more FTZs will be established in China, based on the model of the Shanghai FTZ. Each is to make full use of its geographic location and carry special local features.

China Releases Tax Policies for Supporting Reorganization of Enterprises

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) recently released a Notice clarifying tax policies for nine business activities, including enterprise restructuring, merger, bankruptcy and asset transfer. Under the new tax policy, whenever an eligible restructured company takes over rights and obligations from the previous entity, the transfer of immovable property from the original enterprise is exempted from deed tax. The Notice took effect on January 1, 2015 and will last until December 31, 2017.

Xi’an Raises Minimum Wage Levels for 2015

On April 7, the Xi’an Human Resources and Social Security Department released its monthly and hourly minimum wage levels for 2015, which took effect on May 1, 2015. The Xi’an city government has divided its districts into four wage classes and set different minimum wage levels accordingly. The monthly minimum wage in Xi’an’s A class districts such as Xincheng and Lianhu has been adjusted to RMB 1,480, while the hourly minimum wage has been adjusted to RMB 14.8. In its B class districts including Chang’an, Lintong and Gaolin, the monthly minimum wage will be raised to RMB 1,370.

Shanghai to Launch Tourist VAT Rebate Scheme in 2015

Shanghai is looking to implement tourist value-added tax (VAT) rebate policies within this year and is currently selecting eligible tax refund stores, according to Yang Jingsong, the director of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration (SMTA). Under the scheme, foreign tourists purchasing goods in eligible stores are able to apply for VAT rebate at designated points of departure. The threshold for VAT refunds is set at RMB 500. In 2011, China launched this policy as a pilot scheme in Hainan. The country is currently looking to expand the tax rebates policy nationwide to boost its domestic tourism industry.

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