Laws of the People's Republic of China

General Administration of Customs

Circular of the General Administration of Customs on Transmitting the Catalogue of Priority Industries for Foreign Investment in the Central-western Region (Revised in 2004)

Shu Shui Fa [2004] No. 347

Guangdong sub-administration of the General Administration of Customs, Tianjin and Shanghai special commissioner¡¯s offices and all the customs directly under the General Administration of Customs:

Upon the approval of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly promulgated the Catalogue of Priority Industries for Foreign Investment in the Central-western Region (Revised in 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Catalogue, see the appendix for detail), which was implemented as of September 1, 2004. The Catalogue is hereby transmitted, and the relevant issues concerning the implementation are notified as follows:

1.

The Catalogue was implemented as of September 1, 2004, that is, the project with foreign investment in the central-western region (including capital increased projects) approved after September 1 shall be implemented according to the Catalogue. As for the project with foreign investment subject to the Catalogue, tariff and import link VAT may be exempted in accordance with the provisions of the Urgent Notice of the General Administration of Customs on the Implementation of the Circular of the State Council on Adjusting the Taxation Policies of Import Equipment (Shu Shui [1997] No. 1062).

2.

For the purpose of ensuring the succession of policy, as for the project with foreign investment approved according to the former Catalogue of Priority Industries for the Foreign Investment in Central-western Region before September 1, 2004, taxation preferential policies on import may be still enjoyed continuously according to the former provisions.

3.

Where any project being established and not exempted from tax complies with the provisions of the Catalogue, an application for making up the Confirmation Letter of the Project with Chinese and Foreign Investment that the State Encourages to Develop may be filed to the competent department of investment under the State Council or to the authorized competent department of investment at provincial level. After the Confirmation Letter of the Project with Chinese and Foreign Investment that the State Encourages to Develop is gained, the imported self-used equipment of the project being established may enjoy taxation preferential policies on import according to the former provisions, but the tax that has been levied from the imported equipment shall not be refunded.

4.

As for the project approved by the examination and approval department to enjoy taxation preferential policies on import, all the customs shall strictly check the scope of the commodities exempted from tax according to the Catalogue of Import Commodity Not Exempted from Tax of the Project with Foreign Investment.

5.

After the implementation of the Catalogue, the code of ¡°Project Item of the Industry Policy Examination and Approval¡± shall be ¡°G¡±, for instance, the second item of Shanxi province shall be filled in as: Subsequent industrial development of such national key ecological projects as reclaiming farmland to forests and pastures, and protecting natural forests (G1402); the fifth item of Jiangxi province shall be filled in as: Manufacture of top grade ceramics for daily use (G3605).

The issues concerning the adjustment of the parameter library in the System for Administration of Tax Reduction and Exemption will be notified separately.

6.

Other issues not covered in this Circular shall still be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Circular of the State Council on Adjusting the Taxation Policies of Import Equipment (Guo Fa [1997] No.37) and the Urgent Notice of the General Administration of Customs on the Implementation of the Circular of the State Council on Adjusting the Taxation Policies of Import Equipment (Shu Shui [1997] No. 1062).

General Administration of Customs

October 14, 2004