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LAW

People's Congress Passes Amendments to Vehicle and Vessel Tax

At a meeting of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) held on Feb 25, delegates voted to pass amendments to the country's Vehicle and Vessel Tax. As reported by domestic media before the congress began, the final draft of the amendments were not as onerous as the those outlined in an earlier draft and most motorists will not see the tax, which ranges from 60 to 660 yu...

China News Service | 2011-02-25

INDUSTRY

Problem Bidding Uncovered in Airport Projects "Only Tip of the Iceberg"

A recent report by China's central auditing body revealed multiple problems involving bidding for contracts related to the construction of 23 Chinese airports involving almost 2 billion yuan. According to an unnamed source within the industry, the problems uncovered in the report were only the "tip of the iceberg." It’s reported that 500 billion yuan will be invested in civil aviation projects ove...

21st Century Business Herald | 2011-02-25

BANK

Banks Issue 2.63 Trillion Yuan in New Loans to Agricultural Sector in 2010

At the end of 2010, Chinese banks had over 11 trillion yuan in existing loans issued to the agricultural sector. Banks issued new loans of 2.63 trillion yuan to the agricultural sector in 2010, statistics from the China Banking Regulatory Commission revealed.

China Securities journal | 2011-02-25

POLICY

Vice Premier Stresses Central Government Commitment to Subsidised Housing

Li Keqiang, one of China's vice premiers and likely successor to current premier Wen Jiabao, has reiterated the central government’s determination to construct ten million policy-based houses in 2011. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has required local governments to begin all of their policy-based housing projects before the end of October. However, Vice-premier Li also noted t...

China Business News | 2011-02-25

FINANCE

70% of Public Servants Willing to Make their Personal Finances Public

A recently published Blue Book authored by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, contains a survey revealing that 70% of public servants are willing to let their personal financial assets public. Another survey included in the report found that 81.4% of ordinary people agree that public servants should open up their personal assets to the public gaze. Meanwhile, a ranking of transparency among ce...

The Beijing News | 2011-02-25

BANK

State Council Approves China’s Basel III Banking Reforms

According to an unnamed source with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the State Council has already approved changes to China's banking regulations which are being made in keeping with the principles of the international Basel III banking reforms.

21st Century Business Herald | 2011-02-24

TAX

Concerns that Higher Rate of Shanghai’s New Property Tax Kicks In Too Low

The Shanghai government recently released more details about the specific rates at which it's newly announced pilot property tax will be collected. According to the plan, properties with a unit price of below 28,426 yuan per square meter will be taxed at a rate of 0.4%, while properties that have a market value higher than that amount, will be taxed at a rate of 0.6%. The tax will only be collecte...

Oriental Morning Post | 2011-02-24