Ten key messages from the agenda-setting conference

2. Taxes

An employee of the tax bureau of Nanchang city, capital of East China's Jiangxi province, shows the first added value invoice for the construction sector. [Photo/Xinhua]

The fiscal policy will be more proactive and effective and the budget will respond to demand for more supply-side structural reform, reduced enterprise taxes, and protection of people's basic living standards, according to the conference.

The conference also resolved to increase efforts to cut taxes, fees and other costs.

China has made progress expanding a pilot program to replace business tax with value-added tax nationwide since May. Given taxes reduced by 287 billion yuan ($41 billion) from May to October, and another 84.7 billion yuan from January to April, an aggregate 371.7 billion yuan of taxes were reduced during the first ten months as a result of the replacement program, according to Xinhua. The amount of tax cuts is estimated to surpass 470 billion yuan for the entire year.