China increases tax breaks for small businesses

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Wednesday decided to extend tax breaks to more small businesses, recognition of their roles in generating jobs and growth.

From Oct. 1, 2015 to the end of 2017, companies with annual taxable income under 300,000 yuan (46,900 U.S. dollars) will have their corporate tax halved, said a statement released after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. Previously, the threshold was 200,000 yuan.

The meeting also promised tax breaks for companies with a monthly revenue under 30,000 yuan. They will be exempted from value-added tax and business tax until the end of 2017.

The move is the latest attempt to help small businesses, as they provide nearly 80 percent of urban jobs.

In the first six months, about 2.39 million small and micro enterprises in China paid reduced taxes, saving them about 8.6 billion yuan.

Wednesday's meeting also decided promote big data processors, promising to make government data on transport, medical care, employment and social security available to the public.

The meeting also agreed to free controls on foreign investment in the logistics sector to allow them to establish purchase and distribution centers in China. Enditem