The Chinese government is to raise tax rates in new regulations on taxes on
urban land use, in a bid to strengthen the macro-economic control policies.
In a meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday, the State
Council, or China's cabinet, decided to amend the provisional regulations on
taxes on urban land use issued in 1988.
Unified tax rates will be
applied to domestic and foreign companies to foster fair competition.
China's economy grew 10.7 percent in the first three quarters this year,
with fixed assets investment surging 27.3 percent.
The
government believes checking excessive growth of credit and land supply could be
an effective way of cooling the economy.
Measures have been taken to
tighten land supply in the second half, including higher taxes on urban land use
and stripping local governments of their authority to spend the money from land
sales.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)