State Council to Announce Unified Policy to Develop the West in OctoberThe State Council is currently drawing up a unified policy to develop the West and will began announcing the policy starting in October.Wen Zaixing, a spokesman for the organization committee, said that this policy will include: increasing the amount of investments in the West, especially from the central government coffers; expanding the fields that attract investments and increasing partnerships with foreign firms; encourage enterprises on the east coast to invest in the West; and increase education in science and cultivate talented individuals. The concrete measures to encourage foreign investment in the West includes the following: - Draw up and publish a "List of Industries in China's Western Region where Foreign Investment has an Advantage". The projects on the list would be encouraged from the "Foreign Investment Industry Guidance List" policy. - Foreign investment enterprises in the central and western regions can receive a 15% tax cut from the enterprises' income tax for three years. - As long as a firms' foreign investment ratio in the central and western region exceeds 25%, it can enjoy corresponding benefits. - The state approved experimental projects, in principle, should be done in the central and western regions. - Allow foreign investment firms based along the eastern coast to contract business management to foreign and domestic investment firms. - Allow the provincial and municipal governments in the central and western regions to select an already established development zone to apply for and develop a state-level economic and technology development zone. There are currently 11 state-level development zones. |
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