China to Promote Chongqing’s Innovative Measures for the Business Environment

Chongqing- Creating a more fair and open business environment to promote China's development is essential. Recently, the State Council issued a notice to promote the business environment's innovative reform measures in six pilot cities nationwide, including Southwest China's Chongqing.

The promoted innovation reform measures involve 50 policies, supporting market players' innovation and development, improving cross-border trade facilitation, and optimizing regular enterprise-related services, etc.

Chongqing is an industrial city with many market players, which is the key to creating a favorable business environment, said Mo Yuanming, a researcher at Chongqing Technology and Business University.  

The personnel introduced the tax and fee reduction policies to the enterprise staff. (Photo/ Visual Chongqing)

Realizing consolidated tax declaration 

Last November, the State Council deployed six pilot cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen to carry out business environment innovation. Up to now, Chongqing has established a system of one overall plan plus 100 special programs, with 147 supporting policy documents formulated. 

Take the tax, which cannot be separated from every market entity, as an example. Initiatives like the online issuance of electronic tax payment certificates, non-contact issuance of tax UKey, dynamic supervision of credit and risk tax, the online query of national vehicle and vessel tax payment information, and verification reform have all been implemented in Chongqing.

In particular, Chongqing took the lead in implementing the consolidated declaration of 11 types of tax in the country, including corporate income tax, property, and behavior tax, reducing the number of 204 data items and 2/3 of forms filled by taxpayers, benefiting more than 1.41 million taxpayers.

A staff in Yongchuan high-tech zone helps enterprises solve problems. (Photo/ Visual Chongqing)

Stimulating markets players' vitality

From January to September this year, data shows that 427,800 new market entities registered in Chongqing, with a total of 3,359,800 households. A number of leading enterprises in advanced manufacturing and the digital economy have come in to consolidate economic development.

Mo suggested, in the next step, Chongqing should stimulate the vitality of market players, which can be coordinated by the government, enterprises, associations, and society as a whole.

First, the government should improve the service supply, such as detailing the land use, employment, financing, logistics, and other aspects of market subjects, making Chongqing a better place for investment. 

Second, enterprises are both beneficiaries and participants in optimizing the business environment, in which innovation is the first driving force for development. Market players should increase investment in technology or management innovation to stimulate vitality.

In addition, industry business association is a bridge between the government, enterprises, and the market. They should play a more significant role in service, regulation, and promotion of factor convergence, resource allocation, and others to promote the business environment. 

(Tan Jingyue, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)