Since the beginning of this year, in the face of the complex and severe international environment and the arduous and arduous tasks of domestic reform, development and stability, China has accurately and effectively implemented macroeconomic regulation and control, and played a "combination punch" of strengthening counter-cyclical adjustment. A series of measures such as accelerating the pace of expenditure, reducing taxes and fees, and special bonds have been implemented to effectively promote the overall recovery of the economy.
Vigorously stabilize investment and expand domestic demand
"Recently, the central government decided to issue an additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and project construction to improve disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities. Party committees, governments at all levels, and all relevant departments should adhere to the principle of seeking truth and pragmatism, scientific planning, and rational distribution, use funds to the best advantage, promote project construction with high quality, and build various projects into popular projects, high-quality projects, and clean projects. General Secretary Xi Jinping recently emphasized when inspecting the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction work in Beijing and Hebei.
The issuance of an additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds and the increase in the deficit rate from 3 percent to about 3.8 percent are very rare. By increasing the investment of the central government through the issuance of additional treasury bonds, supporting the acceleration of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, and improving the capacity of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, it has put into practice the people-centered development philosophy and also reflected the strengthening and efficiency of the proactive fiscal policy.
"Afterburner and efficiency" is the key word for the implementation of a proactive fiscal policy this year. "Afterburner" is mainly to strengthen the overall planning of fiscal funds, optimize the combination of fiscal deficits, special bonds, interest discounts and other tools, expand the scale of fiscal expenditure, and maintain the necessary expenditure intensity; "Improving efficiency" is mainly to improve the efficiency of the allocation of financial resources, the effectiveness of fiscal policies, and the efficiency of the use of funds.
In the continuous recovery and development of the economy, the expansion of domestic demand and the stabilization of investment are under great pressure, and the role of special bonds has attracted much attention. This year, China's new special debt limit is 38000.1500 trillion yuan, an increase of 10 billion yuan over the previous year. Statistics show that in the first 35192 months, all localities issued <>,<>.<> billion yuan of special bonds for project construction within the approved new debt limit, and a series of projects in key areas received strong support from special bond funds.
The data shows that in the first 10 months, the scale of investment continued to expand, the structure continued to be optimized, and the investment in making up for shortcomings and forging long boards continued to grow. Among them, infrastructure investment increased by 5.9% year-on-year.
"In the context of the slowdown in the global economic recovery, expanding domestic demand has become the key to driving domestic economic growth. Special bonds are an important policy tool to stabilize investment, expand domestic demand, and make up for shortcomings, and have played an important role in expanding effective investment and promoting the overall economic recovery. Li Xuhong, vice president and professor of Beijing National Accounting Institute, said.
At the end of October, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a decision authorizing the State Council to issue the new local government debt limit for the following year in advance within 10% of the new local government debt limit for the current year within the authorization period. This measure is conducive to speeding up the issuance and use of local government bonds and ensuring the funding needs of major projects in key areas.
"In the next step, the Ministry of Finance will, in accordance with the authorization of the National People's Congress, study and propose a plan to issue part of the new local government debt limit in 2024 in advance as soon as possible. At the same time, we will intensify our efforts to better play the leading role of special bonds and promote the sustained improvement of the economy. Minister of Finance Lan Foan said.
Effectively reduce the burden and stabilize expectations
Sanmei Bamboo & Wood Products Co., Ltd. is a small and micro enterprise in Anji, Zhejiang. In recent years, the transformation and development of "bamboo instead of plastic" industrial processing has encountered financial pressure.
"Since the beginning of this year, we have enjoyed a total of nearly 100 million yuan in policy dividends such as reduction and exemption for small and micro enterprises, injecting strong momentum into enterprises to increase investment in R&D and production." Xiao Weixin, the person in charge of the company, said.
Reducing taxes and fees is also an important part of the implementation of a proactive fiscal policy. Since the beginning of this year, China has implemented a series of preferential tax policies, and there will be as many as 2023 preferential tax policies that will continue to be optimized and improved in 70 alone.
"Tax and fee reduction is a major measure of supply-side structural reform, which is conducive to stimulating market vitality and optimizing resource allocation, which is of great significance for stabilizing growth, promoting employment and adjusting structure." Li Xuhong said.
This year, the implementation of tax and fee reductions highlights the pertinence and precision, and vigorously supports scientific and technological innovation, the real economy and the development of small, medium and micro enterprises.
First of all, we will focus on supporting small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households to help them cope with difficult challenges. On the basis of optimization and improvement, the preferential tax policies involving small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households will be uniformly extended until the end of 2027. For example, small-scale VAT taxpayers with monthly sales of less than 10,<> yuan are exempt from VAT.
Second, promote high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance. In March this year, the additional deduction ratio of R&D expenses of eligible enterprises was uniformly increased from 3% to 75%, and it was implemented as an institutional arrangement for a long time. In the first three quarters, a total of 100,40 enterprises across the country enjoyed the policy of additional deduction of R&D expenses in advance, encouraging enterprises to increase R&D investment.
With the implementation of a series of preferential tax policies, the vitality of business entities has been fully stimulated, and the momentum of innovation and development has been effectively improved. In the first 10 months, the country added 16607,75.<> billion yuan in tax cuts, fee reductions and tax refunds and deferrals, of which the amount of private economy taxpayers accounted for nearly <>%, and manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade were the industries with the largest proportion of preferential treatment.
In the first 10 months, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 4.1 percent, 1.1 percentage points faster than that of the first half of the year, and the total number of business entities in the country exceeded 1 million, playing a positive role in stabilizing employment and economic fundamentals.
"This year, the proactive fiscal policy guarantee is strong, precise and efficient, and the fiscal revenue has maintained a restorative growth. At the same time, the tax and fee reduction policies have been further optimized, which has played an important supporting role in the sustained recovery of the economy. Bai Yanfeng, a professor at the School of Finance and Taxation of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said.
Focus on ensuring people's livelihood and increasing well-being
Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management issued 48.46 billion yuan of central natural disaster relief funds to support local governments to carry out relief work for the temporary living difficulties of the affected people in winter and spring to ensure a safe and warm winter.
China continues to increase investment in people's livelihood and continue to strengthen the construction of basic, inclusive and comprehensive people's livelihood. In 2023, the national general public budget will allocate 42166,725.09 billion yuan for education, 1546.83 billion yuan for basic public health services, and <>.<> billion yuan for people in need. A series of real money financial support has effectively strengthened the bottom line of people's livelihood.
The contradiction between fiscal revenue and expenditure in some localities is more prominent, and the central government has continued to increase the intensity of transfer payments, arranging 10.06 trillion yuan of transfer payments to local governments this year, an increase of 7.9 percent. Among them, the general transfer payment was 87125,71.7 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8499 percent; The special transfer payment was 29.11 billion yuan, an increase of 6.5000 percent. In addition, a one-time arrangement will be made to support the implementation of tax and fee reductions at the grassroots level and special transfer payments for key people's livelihood by <> billion yuan.
The latest statistics show that the transfer payments that meet the conditions have been issued, and by increasing support for difficult areas and grassroots units, it has provided a strong financial guarantee for the smooth operation of local finances. All localities strictly manage the "three guarantees" (ensuring basic people's livelihood, wages, and operation) expenditure budget preparation, implementation, and treasury guarantee, strengthen financial operation monitoring and early warning, and promptly discover and deal with emerging problems and hidden risks.
Macheng City, Hubei Province is the core area of the Dabie Mountain Revolutionary Base Area. "We work hard around the word 'foot' to ensure that the 'three guarantees' budget is in place, highlight the priority of the 'three guarantees' expenditure in fiscal expenditure, and ensure that the 'three guarantees' budget arrangement does not leave a gap, providing strong support for the bottom line." Bao Bin, director of the Macheng Finance Bureau, said.
In addition to financial support, tax policies also focus on improving people's livelihood and well-being. At the end of August, the State Council issued a notice to increase the special additional deduction standards for individual income tax for infant and child care under the age of 8, children's education, and support for the elderly.
"'Caring for the old and learning for the young' is the vision of a better life for the people. The three special additional deduction standards have been greatly increased, which can reduce the burden of pension and childcare, and eugenics, which reflects the accuracy of policy burden reduction, and will also have a certain leverage effect on boosting current consumption. Liang Ji, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said.
This year, China has also continued the preferential policies such as separate taxation of one-time bonuses throughout the year and individual income tax refunds for housing purchases, so as to effectively reduce the tax burden of residents and enhance residents' consumption capacity.
In addition, we will further implement the policy of giving priority to detailed employment, support enterprises to reduce their burdens and stabilize jobs, help key groups find employment and start businesses, continue to implement the policy of interest-free student loans and deferred repayment of principals, and steadily implement the national overall planning of basic pension insurance for enterprise employees.
"The party and government organs insist on living a tight life, and the central government has taken the lead in reducing expenditures and increasing the sinking of financial resources. Through the optimization of the structure of fiscal revenue and expenditure and the improvement of the efficiency of fiscal expenditure, we will effectively protect and improve people's livelihood. Li Xuhong said.
Keep the bottom line of risk prevention
On November 11, the Ministry of Finance publicly announced eight typical cases of local government implicit debt accountability, from the heads of party and government organs in some places to the relevant persons in charge of state-owned enterprises and financial institutions, all of which were seriously investigated and punished, sounding the alarm on the new hidden debts and the untruthful resolution of hidden debts.
To achieve sustainable fiscal and economic operation, we must firmly adhere to the bottom line of preventing systemic risks. Since the beginning of this year, the central government has made a series of important arrangements for the prevention and resolution of local debt risks. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee proposed that "it is necessary to effectively prevent and resolve local debt risks and formulate and implement a package of debt reduction plans". The Central Financial Work Conference emphasized that "establish a long-term mechanism to prevent and resolve local debt risks, establish a government debt management mechanism compatible with high-quality development, and optimize the debt structure of central and local governments".
Relevant departments and localities continue to strengthen the management of local government debts, open the "front door" and strictly block the "back door". In terms of implicit debts, the study proposes a package of policy measures to resolutely curb the increase, prudently resolve the stock, and establish a market-oriented and law-based debt default disposal mechanism. At the same time, improve the supervision and accountability mechanism, and implement lifelong accountability and reverse investigation responsibility. A series of policies have been vigorously implemented, the scale of local implicit debts has gradually decreased, and risks have been alleviated.
In terms of special bonds, we strengthened the management of "borrowing, using, managing and repaying" to further improve efficiency and prevent risks. In particular, we will strengthen the penetrating monitoring of special bond projects and the post-investment management of bond funds, improve the supervision and management mechanism of the whole cycle and whole process of project construction and operation, improve the efficiency of fund use, and ensure the safety of fund operation.
"Local debt has played an active role in economic and social development, effectively promoting stable growth, benefiting people's livelihood and adjusting the structure. At present, through the orderly promotion of the prevention and resolution of debt risks, debt risks are generally controllable. Ji Fuxing, a professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
At present, China's economy continues to recover and improve, the main indicators continue to improve, and the overall economic operation is stable. At the same time, there are still many external unstable and uncertain factors, domestic demand is still insufficient, and enterprises are still facing many difficulties in production and operation. In the continuous promotion of economic recovery, it is highly anticipated how the proactive fiscal policy can play a better role.
"In the next step, the Ministry of Finance will continue to implement the active fiscal policy, focus on improving efficiency, and better play the effectiveness of fiscal policy." Lan Foan said that it is necessary to continue to make efforts in expenditure, strengthen the implementation of policies, and strictly prevent risks in operation.
Li Xuhong believes that it is necessary to give full play to the role of fiscal and taxation policies on the demand side, further stimulate the vitality of business entities, and promote the precise and direct delivery of various tax incentives.
"The active fiscal policy should maintain a certain intensity and intensity of expenditure, hedge various uncertainties in the development of the internal and external environment with the stability of fiscal investment, and guide social expectations to continue to improve. At the same time, we will promote the continuous development of new and old economic growth momentum, and increase the support and guidance of representative industries of new quality productivity. Bai Yanfeng said. (Economic Daily reporter Zeng Jinhua)