Govt plans to cut tax, social contribution of companies

China aims to reduce the tax burdens and social insurance contributions of enterprises by nearly 2 trillion yuan ($298.3 billion) in 2019, as part of its broader push to promote manufacturing and fuel the growth of small and micro businesses, according to the annual Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

Li presented the report at the opening of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress.

He said the 2019 tax cut plan will focus primarily on reducing tax burdens in manufacturing and on small and micro businesses.

The government will deepen the value-added tax reform, reducing the current rate of 16 percent in manufacturing and other industries to 13 percent, and lower the rate in the transportation, construction, and other industries from 10 to 9 percent, Li added.

China will also significantly reduce enterprise contributions to social insurance schemes, he said.

Last year, China cut about 1.3 trillion yuan in taxes and fees, including the value-added tax, individual income taxes and corporate income taxes for small and medium-sized enterprises.