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Cailianshe reported on July 31 that the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the theme of "Promoting High-quality Development" at 10 a.m. today, inviting Deputy Minister of Finance Wang Dongwei to attend to introduce the situation and answer questions from reporters.

Ministry of Finance: my country's current overall tariff level is 7.3%, lower than the WTO commitment of 9.8%

Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that we insist on actively connecting with international high-standard economic and trade rules, deeply participating in global economic governance, and continuously promoting high-level opening up. At present, my country's overall tariff level is 7.3%, lower than the 9.8% commitment for accession to the WTO. We have implemented lower temporary import tariffs on about 1,000 commodities, and mutually implemented preferential agreement tariffs with 32 countries or regions, so that the people can enjoy global high-quality products and share China's development opportunities with the world. We have implemented policies such as "zero tariffs" and duty-free shopping on offshore islands in Hainan, and actively built an open highland. We have implemented global development initiatives, global security initiatives, and global civilization initiatives, deeply participated in multilateral mechanisms such as the G20 and BRICS, and promoted high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

Ministry of Finance: Considering moving the consumption tax collection process backward and steadily transferring it to local governments

Wang Dongwei said that among the current large-scale taxes, consumption tax is entirely levied by the central government and is mainly levied at the production and import stages. In the next step, we will consider moving the collection of consumption tax backward and steadily delegating it to local governments, taking into account factors such as the division of central and local revenues and tax collection and management capabilities, and steadily implementing it by item and step, expanding local revenue sources and guiding local governments to improve the consumption environment. We will study the merger of urban maintenance and construction tax, education surcharge, and local education surcharge into local surcharges, and authorize local governments to determine specific applicable tax rates within a certain range. We will reform the environmental protection tax and include volatile organic compounds in the scope of collection.

Ministry of Finance: Explore and study ways to give local governments greater autonomy in determining the elements of the local tax system and implementing them

Wang Dongwei said that in recent years, in the local tax legislation such as the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the Resource Tax Law, and the Farmland Occupation Tax Law, provincial governments have been given the authority to determine specific applicable tax rates, tax exemptions, etc. In the future, on the basis of the central government's unified legislation and tax levy power, we will explore and study how to give local governments greater autonomy in determining the elements of the local tax system and in its specific implementation.

Ministry of Finance: Regarding toll roads, relevant policies will be optimized according to the principle of "beneficiary pays"

Wang Dongwei said that non-tax revenue mainly belongs to local governments and is an important part of local financial resources. We are considering standardizing the management of non-tax revenue, appropriately delegating some non-tax revenue management authority, and allowing local governments to manage it in a differentiated manner based on their actual conditions. Deepen the reform of the paid use system of natural resources. All revenues obtained by relying on administrative power, government credit, and state-owned resources and assets should be included in the government budget management. For the issue of toll roads, we will promote the optimization of relevant policies in accordance with the principle of "beneficiary pays".

Ministry of Finance: Since the beginning of this year, the central government has allocated 11.5 billion yuan in disaster relief funds to local governments

Fu Jinling, director of the Economic Construction Department of the Ministry of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that since the beginning of this year, the central government has allocated 11.5 billion yuan in disaster relief funds to local governments, providing strong financial support. The relevant funds include natural disaster relief funds for the relocation and resettlement of disaster-stricken people and emergency rescue, agricultural production disaster prevention and relief funds for agricultural production restoration, water conservancy disaster relief funds for repairing water-damaged water conservancy engineering facilities, as well as emergency highway clearance funds and infrastructure construction funds. In 2023, an additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds will be issued, which will be used specifically for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and to enhance disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities, providing a solid financial guarantee for local governments to do a good job in disaster prevention and mitigation this year.

Ministry of Finance: Guide local governments to speed up the issuance and use of special bonds, speed up the use of funds from additional treasury bonds, and central budget investment

Lin Zechang, director of the General Department of the Ministry of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that in the next step, the implementation of policies will be intensified to promote the sustained recovery of the economy. Focus on four specific aspects: First, better play the role of government investment in driving the amplification effect. According to the needs and project preparation, timely issue and use the ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and actively support the implementation of the "two heavy". Guide local governments to accelerate the issuance and use of special bonds, speed up the use of funds for additional treasury bonds, central budget investment, etc., and form more physical workload. Second, increase efforts to promote large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods replacement. At present, a notice has been issued to coordinate the arrangement of about 300 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to increase support and promote the "two new" work. We will actively work with relevant departments to do this work well. Third, continue to strengthen basic livelihood security. Implement fiscal and taxation policies in the fields of employment, education, pension, medical care, etc., strengthen fiscal funding guarantees, and weave a tight and solid "security net" for people's livelihood. Fourth, strengthen fiscal revenue and expenditure management. Strictly organize revenue in accordance with laws and regulations, and do not collect "excessive taxes and fees." We will strictly control non-rigid and non-key expenditures and use fiscal funds where they are needed most. We will strengthen the responsibilities of governments at all levels and ensure the smooth operation of grassroots finances.

Ministry of Finance: As of July 24, 418 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special government bonds have been issued

Lin Zechang said that in the first half of the year, the national fiscal general public budget expenditure was 13.7 trillion yuan; the central government's transfer payments to local governments were 8.99 trillion yuan, accounting for 88.1% of the budget at the beginning of the year; the 1 trillion yuan of additional treasury bonds issued last year have all been issued to local governments, and have basically been implemented in projects; this year, local governments have issued 1.9 trillion yuan of new bonds as of July 26, and more new infrastructure, new industries and other fields have been included in the scope of special bond investment, and the allocation of special bond quotas will be tilted towards areas with sufficient project preparation and good use efficiency; this year, 1 trillion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds will be arranged to support "double-heavy" projects, and 418 billion yuan has been issued as of July 24. At the same time, we earnestly implement the requirements of party and government agencies to get used to tight times and strive to achieve greater results with the same money.

Ministry of Finance: In principle, the central government will arrange expenditures at the central level to reduce the number of central government fiscal responsibilities that are delegated to local governments.

Wang Jianfan, director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has made a series of new arrangements for reforming and improving the fiscal relationship between the central and local governments, and has clarified the goals and directions for deepening the reform of the fiscal system. In terms of revenue division, we will increase local autonomous financial resources and expand local tax sources. We will promote the backward transfer of the collection of consumption tax and steadily transfer it to local governments, and optimize the proportion of shared taxes. We will standardize the management of non-tax revenue, appropriately transfer some non-tax revenue management authority to local governments, and let local governments manage it in a differentiated manner based on their actual conditions. In terms of transfer payments, we will improve the fiscal transfer payment system, clean up and standardize special transfer payments, increase general transfer payments, and improve the matching degree between the financial resources of cities and counties and their powers. We will establish an incentive and constraint mechanism for transfer payments to promote high-quality development. The focus of the cleanup and standardization here is on special transfer payments and increasing general transfer payments, which corresponds to the need to increase local autonomous financial resources mentioned in the reform goal. In terms of the division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities, we will appropriately strengthen central powers and increase the proportion of central fiscal expenditure. In principle, central fiscal powers are to be allocated by the central government itself, and the central fiscal powers entrusted to local governments will be reduced. It is not allowed to require local governments to arrange matching funds in violation of regulations. If it is necessary to entrust local governments to exercise power, funds shall be arranged through special transfer payments.