First Quarter Sees 16,500 New Businesses Register Each Day

During the first quarter of this year, 16,500 new businesses were registered each day on average in China, up 12.3 percent year on year.

On the basis of China’s improved business environment and the rising international rankings, China has taken steps this year to further improve its business climate through implementing a series of measures. Among them, the large-scale tax cuts and fee reduction policies make it easier for enterprises to carry out business operations.

Since January 1 this year, China has implemented the preferential tax reduction and exemption policy for small and micro businesses. The corporate tax cut alone benefited 17.98 million businesses, 98 percent of which were privately owned.

Since April 1, the tax rate for manufacturing, transportation and construction enterprises has been reduced. Since May 1, social insurance premiums have been lowered to ease the burden on enterprises. More positive policies are also on the horizon this year. Beginning on July 1, the real estate registration fee and patent application fee will be reduced.

A photo exhibition on China’s ethnic minorities opened in Riga on May 9, highlighting the diverse lifestyles and centuries-old traditions of many ethnic groups.

Participating in the unveiling of the exhibition on scenery and customs of Chinese ethnic minorities were representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Latvia, members of the Latvian parliament, as well as representatives of Chinese cultural organizations.

The 64 photos displayed at the exhibition are works of prominent Chinese photographers whose close relations with the people of the ethnic groups allowed them to tell through the lens of their cameras the true stories of their day-today lives.

Tang Yulap, chairman of Association Suisse des Commercants d’ Origine Chinoise, said at the opening of the exhibition, “Since ancient times, China has always been a unified multi-ethnic nation and today embraces a total of 56 ethnic groups with distinct cultures, hence forming a diversified, beautiful country.”

“We hope that through the lens of our photographers, the world would appreciate the genuine customs and practices of China’s different ethnic minorities, and at the same time, we could take this opportunity to exhibit the great social and economic changes in our ethnic minorities and how their lives have improved over the past 40 years of the country’s reform and opening-up,” the chairman said.