Beijing Extends Tax Breaks to Spur Post-Virus Economic Recovery

Chinese authorities have extended a range of expiring tax breaks to the end of 2023 to help business recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The extended incentives, announced Thursday on the State Council website, include a value-added tax exemption on the interest income from loans of one million yuan ($142,000) and below issued by financial institutions to small and micro enterprises as well as tax breaks on income from providing insurance business for the agricultural breeding industry.

• The decision was made at a meeting of the State Council, China’s top legislative body, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, on Tuesday. It came with a package of other financial measures to support small and micro enterprises.
• Li called on government departments involved to “speed up” the process of implementing policies designed to help small companies survive.
• The measures will help keep people in work and act as a spur to wealth growth, he told the meeting, adding that smaller companies were the “main force” for job creation.
• The biggest risk to economic recovery was “that employment cannot be stabilized,” Li said.