China has decided to offer a reduced income tax rate of 15 percent for an additional three years to foreign-invested ventures in its central and western regions, the State Administration of Taxation said in Beijing on January 25.

The new policy, which has been in effect since January 1, is aimed at encouraging overseas businessmen to invest in these regions, where economic development lags behind that of the eastern coastal areas.

The regions include 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, namely, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang.

Overseas-funded enterprises in China are entitled to a three-year tax reduction and exemption under the Chinese law. When the term expires, according to the new policy, overseas-invested enterprises in the central and western regions will enjoy another three years of preferential tax rate. The rate can be further reduced to 10 percent when an enterprise's annual export is confirmed to account for more than 70 percent of its annual output value.

China has launched a nationwide campaign for an overall development of the central and western parts of the country, and this new policy is seen as one of the newest moves to promote economic growth in these areas.