Shenzhen Reports Fast Increase in TaxesThe Shenzhen Taxation Bureau collected 10.06 billion yuan (about 1.21 billion U.S. dollars) in taxes in the first eight months of the year, up 11.26 percent from the same period last year.The State taxes collected from January to August also went up considerably to reach 31.5 billion yuan (about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars), local sources said. China has been following a tax-sharing system since 1994. Local and State taxes are levied by two separate organizations -- the local taxation bureau and the state taxation bureau. According to the sources, State taxes in Shenzhen now account for about 60 percent of the city's total industrial and commercial taxes. Shenzhen has turned in 100 billion yuan (about 12.05 billion U.S. dollars) in taxes to the State coffers since 1995. In the past two decades, Shenzhen, also one of China's four earliest special economic zones, created 177.3 billion yuan in industrial and commercial taxes, with the annual growth rate being 44 percent. In 1979, the city only raked in 27 million yuan in taxes, but levied 41.4 billion yuan in taxes in 1999. Shenzhen's tax revenue makes up about 15 percent of the city's gross domestic product (GDP), surpassing the national average and nearing the best tax standard set by the World Bank. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |