More efforts urged to curb arbitrary charges

More efforts should be made to consolidate gains in curbing arbitrary charges to prevent a resurgence of irregularities and foster a good business environment, Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting listened to a report on the implementation over the past year of preferential taxation policies for businesses and measures undertaken to rectify the imposition of arbitrary charges.

Policies such as large-scale tax refunds, tax and fee cuts, as well as tax and fee deferrals were implemented in response to changing market dynamics and the needs of market entities.

These measures, implemented in an equitable and inclusive manner, have helped market entities — especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises — and self-employed people overcome difficulties. They have also played a key role in keeping employment stable, meeting people's basic needs and maintaining stable macroeconomic performance, the meeting heard.

Various localities and departments carried out productive work and launched rectification campaigns to promote the delivery of preferential policies for charges related to business. The policies included, temporarily deferring payments of 14 government levies and some deposits, cutting or waiving highway tolls for trucks, reducing or merging charges at ports and subsidizing utility bills.

Under government supervision and guidance, financial institutions lowered the prices of paid services, and industry associations and chambers of commerce reduced or canceled fees. The special rectification campaigns helped enterprises save over 210 billion yuan (about $30.5 billion) over the year.

Unwarranted charges on enterprises were also addressed. More than 7,700 problematic charges, involving more than 5 billion yuan, were investigated and dealt with nationwide. All the problems identified have been ordered to be rectified, the meeting said.

"Efforts to curb unwarranted and arbitrary charges must be followed through with, to prevent a resurgence of irregularities and foster an enabling business environment for enterprises," Li said.

The meeting stressed that while economic growth is stabilizing and the economy is recovering, a number of challenges remain. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed households still face operational difficulties.

Actions to curb unwarranted charges on businesses must be closely aligned with the implementation of relief policies for enterprises and efforts to improve the business environment and stimulate market vitality.

Some of the tax and fee cuts introduced under the policy package to stabilize the economy and follow-up measures still have room to deliver more results. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure their thorough and effective implementation.

Arbitrary charges, fines and their allocation will be clamped down on. A multipronged approach will be adopted to boost market expectations and consolidate the momentum of economic growth.

"We must take stock of past experience and practices, establish long-term supervision mechanisms, and adopt a list-based management approach to forestall unwarranted and arbitrary charges," Li said.