China Regulatory Brief: New Five-in-One Business License and Adjusted Tax Rates for Imported IT Technologies

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China-Regulatory-Brief
Consumer goods quality standards upgrade plan

On September 13, 2016, the General Office of the State Council formally published the Upgrade Plan for Standards and Quality of Consumer Goods (2012-2020), which sets a clear goal for improving product quality. It plans that by 2020, the standard supply of consumer goods will satisfy growing consumer demand, and the quality of consumer goods in key areas will reach or be close to international standards. The Plan identifies nine key areas regarding quality upgrade of consumer goods, including home appliances, consumer electronics, home decoration products, clothing products, supplies for infants, the expecting, the elderly, and the disabled, cosmetics and daily chemicals, products for culture, sports, and leisure, traditional culture products, and food and other related products.

New five-in-one business license to be implemented

The State Council issued a circular on July 5, 2016 to further speed up business registration reform. The decision was made to implement the five-in-one business license on October 1 in order to reduce administrative approvals for startups and improve the business environment. The license will hold a standardized national credit number which covers the previous business license, tax registration, organization code, public security code, and social security code. It will also contain a two-digit number that can be scanned using a smart phone to reveal information about the company. The registration system will now only require one essential business certificate to one business administration office, vastly simplifying the application process. An online management system for business registration and an information sharing platform between all the related departments will also be established. Companies already registered under the three-in-one business license system are not required to submit applications for the five-in-one license; their information will be submitted to related departments by their original registration administration.

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Tax rate adjusted for certain imported IT technologies

On September 9, 2016, the State Council Customs Tariff Commission issued a notice (Shui Wei Hui [2016] No.24) that China will reduce most favored nation (MFN) tax rates for imported IT products listed in the schedule annexed to the Amendment to the Tariff Reduction Table, beginning September 15, 2016. On 14 September 2016, the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement (Announcement [2016] No.50 from the GAC) to adjust the customs commodity code and Catalogue of Standardized Declaration of certain IT products. In the meantime, customs will no longer issue the Certificate of Usage of the Certain Imported Commodities Eligible for ITA Tax Rates.

New online self-service certification download for Beijing FIE business registration

Several departments, including the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry & Commerce, have jointly issued a notice pledging to simplify the procedures for business registration and to increase service efficiency. Upon examination and approval of the social insurance registration change, the bureau will no longer require enterprises to provide the certification bearing the business registration department’s seal for inquiry of market entity information. When completing procedures for changes to foreign invested enterprises, applicants are now able to download and print the latest revised name-list of personnel of the Board of Directors and article of incorporation revision agreement from the online platform when conducting change formalities.


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