Inspection of websites released for third quarter
Interim regulations on value-added tax have been revised while the business tax has been abolished, according to a State Council decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang and released on Friday.
The new regulations took effect immediately after their release. According to the new regulations, all enterprises and individuals engaged in the sale of goods, processing, repairs and replacement or sales services, intangible properties, real estate, and imports of goods within China come under the value-added tax, and should pay the tax in line with regulations.
Detailed VAT rates were disclosed in the regulations. For example, the rate is 17 percent for businesses engaged in the sale of goods, labor, rental services for tangible properties, and imports. The rate is 11 percent for those in transportation sales, postal services, telecommunications, construction, rental services for real estate and sales, land-use rights transfer, and selling or importing goods such as agricultural products, water, natural gas, coal products, books and electronic publications.
Taxpayers who sell services and intangible properties are required to pay 6 percent in tax, except for those under special rules.
Exports will enjoy a no-tax status, which will also be given to enterprises and individuals headquartered in China to conduct crossborder sales of services and intangible properties, according to the regulations.
One provision was added to the new VAT regulations. The State Council will have the final say on matters regarding VAT payments, or the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation with the State Council’s consent. A State Council notice, released on Thursday, showed that 97 percent of official websites of provincial governments and ministerial departments met qualification standards in the third quarter, 3 percentage points higher than the previous quarter.
As of September, 29,431 government websites were in operation. The General Office of the State Council conducted a random inspection of 500 websites of provincial governments and ministerial departments. More than 14,000 valid messages from netizens had been submitted to point out errors appearing on government websites in the third quarter, and 98 percent had been answered.
During the third quarter, a number of people in charge were punished for neglect of duties in running the websites.
Some other problems were also found in the process, such as unregulated titles, absence of key portals and mistakes induced by substandard daily operations.
Based on the outcome of the inspections, the notice urged officials to better operate and manage government websites to offer people efficient and convenient access to egovernment.
Regions and departments are expected to report their rectifications of substandard operations of the websites to the General Office of the State Council before the deadline of Dec 20, the notice said. The State Council has approved the overall urban plan (2011-2020) for Xinxiang, a city in Central China’s Henan province, according to a notice released on Wednesday. By 2020, Xinxiang’s downtown population should be limited to 1.55 million, and urban construction land to 138.18 square kilometers of the city’s 850 square kilometers.
The plan said urban and rural areas should be developed in a coordinated way. Infrastructure and amenities in urban areas should also serve surrounding villages.
Resource conservation and environmental protection were highlighted. The plan aims to enhance efforts in cutting production overcapacity and pollution emissions. Protection of water resources should be strengthened and ecological resorts such as the Baiquan scenic area, wetlands and water sources should be strictly protected.
The plan also stressed public services in education, healthcare and affordable housing, as well as protection of the traditional urban landscape, historical and cultural heritages. the same day, were part of efforts to further enhance administrative streamlining.
According to the revised implementation rules of the Law on Healthcare for Mothers and Children, pregnant women are encouraged to be hospitalized for birth. Medical and health institutions’ operational procedures, including delivery and post-birth, should strictly follow the regulations issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission to lower the mortality rate among mothers and infants. Proper sterilizing procedures and the prevention of complications induced by delivery are a priority.
The new rule covers special cases, such as maternity care at home, saying that pregnant women who cannot afford hospitalization can seek a trained and qualified family member to carry out the delivery, except for those who are expecting a difficult labor. County-level healthcare departments are asked to provide enhanced training, guidance and supervision for home births.