MNI China Press Digest, Oct. 19: SMEs, FDI, Tax Cuts

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from the Chinese press for

Friday:

     The central government must attach great importance to the difficulties

faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and adopt precise and

effective measures to support their development, as discussed at the meeting of

State Council's Leading Group for Promoting SME Development, hosted by Vice

Premier Liu He on Thursday, Xinhua News reported. It is necessary to deepen the

study of policies to support SMEs by reducing their tax burden and easing their

financing difficulties; and to help them in improving environmental protection,

boosting scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and strengthening

international cooperation, participants in the meeting emphasised. (Link to the

story: https://tinyurl.com/y9fz4vfv)

     Chinese enterprises have not only continued the trend of investing overseas

amid the overall decline of global investment, but will likely expand investment

to a higher level in the future, said People's Daily Overseas Edition on Friday,

citing analysts and the latest foreign direct investment data released by the

Ministry of Commerce. The expansion in overseas investment has stabilised this

year, and enterprises are also paying more attention to the quality of

investment, said Bai Ming, deputy director of International Market Research

Institute under the Ministry of Commerce. Chinese domestic investors conducted

non-financial direct investment in 4,597 overseas companies in 155 countries, at

a total of USD82.02 billion, seeing a rise of 5.1% y/y, the ministry said. (Link

to the story: https://tinyurl.com/ybsb4yr9)

     The Ministry of Finance is working on a larger scale of tax cuts and on

more measures to reduce fees, aiming to reduce corporate costs and stimulate

market vitality, said Yuan Haiyao, an official in the Taxation Department under

the ministry in a presser on Thursday, Securities Daily reported. This is the

second time this month that the ministry has reiterated its intent to cut taxes

and fees. Liu Kun, the Finance Minister, first addressed the issue on Oct 7,

aiming to make fiscal policy more proactive. Value-added tax has further room

for downward adjustment, said Li Lifeng, an analyst at Guojin Securities. (Link

to the story: https://tinyurl.com/y7y8wbu2)

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86-10-8532-5998; email: beijing@marketnews.com

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