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Tax cut in Pingtan hailed by businessmen

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Tax cut in Pingtan hailed by businessmen

The policy allows 127 industries and businesses in five main categories to be levied at a reduced income tax rate of 15 percent. [Photo/english.pingtan.gov]

Many Taiwan entrepreneurs are hailing a sensational policy that gives an 85 percent income tax cut to qualified enterprises in Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province.

The policy was officially announced by the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation on March 27, allowing 127 industries and businesses in five main categories to be levied at a reduced income tax rate of 15 percent.

Businessmen from across the Taiwan Straits all agreed on the significance of the policy.

"The [enterprise income] tax is lowered to only 15 percent, which is a blessing to cross-Straits compatriots. Take myself for example. I am running a business in cultural creation that complies with the catalogue. I am definitely one of the direct beneficiaries of the policy," said Chen Fuwen, president of the Taiwan Association for Promotion of Economic Development, on March 29.

The policy has greatly assured Taiwan entrepreneurs in Pingtan, and will lure more investment, Chen added, pledging to spread the news when he returns to Taiwan.

The policy means "an arrival of spring" for Taiwan's small and medium enterprises that had a tough time in Taiwan due to financial troubles, according to entrepreneur Jiang Zhuxiang.

Now that the enterprise income tax has been reduced to only 15 percent, a number of Taiwan companies are expected to move to Pingtan. And more Taiwan college graduates will also come to Pingtan for start-ups, he said.

The long-term impact of the policy on Pingtan is that it will become a micro-finance center, as industrial clusters are expected to be formed in Pingtan, said Lin Yingjie, general-secretary of the Taichung Business Incubation Association.

Pingtan will probably become a transferring and logistics hub for industrial materials and products after it improves its facilities and completes an integrated customs management system, he added.

Xue Qingde, a Taiwan businessman in Pingtan, said he forwarded the news of the favorable tax policy, using social media sites.

"The tax cut will generate considerable profits for enterprises and is thus the most direct, effective support for them. With six categories of Taiwan's commodities exempt from taxes in Pingtan, and the extremely low income tax levied, I believe a multitude of enterprises will flood into Pingtan," he said.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Nelly Min