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The State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences on "Promoting High-quality Development" at 10 a.m. on July 31. Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance, Lin Zechang, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance, Wang Jianfan, Director of the Budget Department, and Fu Jinling, Director of the Economic Construction Department, attended the press conference to introduce the situation and answer questions from reporters.

Let’s look at the key points:

Consider moving the consumption tax collection process backward and steadily transferring it to local governments.Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on July 31 that among the several larger tax types currently in place, consumption tax all belongs to the central government and is mainly levied at the production and import stages.

Next, we will consider moving the collection of consumption tax backward and steadily delegating it to local governments, comprehensively consider factors such as the division of central and local revenues and tax collection and management capabilities, and steadily implement it by item and step, expand local revenue sources, and guide 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.

Consider standardizing the management of non-tax revenue and appropriately delegating some non-tax revenue management powers to lower levels

Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today 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 to local governments for differentiated management based on 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: Explore and study how to give local governments greater autonomy in determining the elements of the local tax system and in its specific implementation

Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that in recent years, provincial governments have been given the authority to determine specific applicable tax rates, tax exemptions, etc. in local tax legislation such as the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the Resource Tax Law, and the Farmland Occupation Tax Law. 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: As of July 24, 418 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special government bonds have been issued

Lin Zechang, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance, introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today 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.

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 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 opening funds and infrastructure construction funds. In 2023, an additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds will be issued specifically for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and improving 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.

At present, my country's overall tariff level is 7.3%, lower than the 9.8% committed upon accession to the WTO.

Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, said 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 upon 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".

From 2022 to 2024, the central government will transfer about 30 trillion yuan to local governments, which will effectively promote regional coordinated development and equalization of basic public services.

Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, said that we have continued to deepen the reform of the fiscal and taxation system around the construction of a high-level socialist market economic system, and strived to inject momentum and vitality into high-quality development. The reform of the budget system has been comprehensively deepened, and the efficiency of fiscal resource allocation and the use of funds have been continuously improved; the tax system has been established and improved, the personal income tax system combining comprehensive and classified taxation has been optimized and improved, and the reforms of value-added tax, consumption tax, resource and environmental tax have been continuously promoted, which has promoted the accelerated construction of a unified national market and economic transformation and upgrading. The fiscal relationship between the central and local governments has been continuously optimized, the transfer payment system has been further improved, and an incentive and constraint mechanism for transfer payments to promote high-quality development has been established. From 2022 to 2024, the central government will transfer about 30 trillion yuan to local governments, which will effectively promote regional coordinated development and equalization of basic public services.

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

Lin Zechang, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance, said that in the next step, we will intensify the implementation of policies to promote the continued recovery of the economy. We will focus on the following 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 "double-weight". Guide local governments to speed up the issuance and use of special bonds, speed up the use of funds from additional treasury bonds, central budget investment, etc., and form more physical workload.

Second, we will step up efforts to promote large-scale equipment upgrades and the replacement of old consumer goods with new ones. We have issued a notice to coordinate the allocation of about 300 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to step up support for the "two new" work. We will actively work with relevant departments to do a good job in this work.

Third, we will continue to strengthen basic livelihood security. We will implement fiscal and taxation policies in the fields of employment, education, elderly care, and medical care, strengthen financial funding guarantees, and weave a tight and solid "security net" for people's livelihood.

Fourth, strengthen the management of fiscal revenue and expenditure. Organize revenue strictly in accordance with laws and regulations, and do not collect "excessive taxes and fees". Strictly control non-rigid and non-key expenditures, and use fiscal funds where they are needed most. Strengthen the responsibilities of governments at all levels to ensure the smooth operation of grassroots finances.

Lin Zechang, Director General of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that in the next step, we will thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee just held yesterday, intensify the implementation of policies, and promote the sustained recovery of the economy. We will focus on the following four specific tasks:

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 "double-weight". Guide local governments to speed up the issuance and use of special bonds, speed up the use of funds from additional treasury bonds, central budget investment, etc., and form more physical workload.

Second, we will step up efforts to promote large-scale equipment upgrades and the replacement of old consumer goods with new ones. We have issued a notice to coordinate the allocation of about 300 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to step up support for the "two new" work. We will actively work with relevant departments to do a good job in this work.

Third, we will continue to strengthen basic livelihood security. We will implement fiscal and taxation policies in the fields of employment, education, elderly care, and medical care, strengthen financial funding guarantees, and weave a tight and solid "security net" for people's livelihood.

Fourth, strengthen the management of fiscal revenue and expenditure. Organize revenue strictly in accordance with laws and regulations, and do not collect "excessive taxes and fees". Strictly control non-rigid and non-key expenditures, and use fiscal funds where they are needed most. Strengthen the responsibilities of governments at all levels to ensure the smooth operation of grassroots finances.

Comprehensive from China.com and other sources

Editor: Peng Bo

Proofreading: Zhu Tianting