China's tax refunds, cuts to reach record high in 2022: minister

BEIJING -- China's tax refunds and cuts will reach a record high this year in an effort to relieve the burden on market entities, Minister of Finance Liu Kun said Saturday.

Liu made the remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing "two sessions."

A government work report submitted to the national legislature said the total volume of tax refunds and cuts will total around 2.5 trillion yuan ($395 billion) in 2022.

The policy will be targeted as 1 trillion yuan will go to six sectors including manufacturing, with another 1 trillion yuan for micro and small enterprises and self-employed individuals, Liu said.

Market entities will receive a 1.5 trillion yuan boost to their cash flow in the form of value-added tax credit refunds, he said.

The minister vowed to take concrete action to deliver benefits to enterprises and individuals as soon as possible.

China has cut more than 8.6 trillion yuan in taxes and fees over the past six years.

As to the slightly lower deficit ratio set in the government work report, Liu said the intensity of fiscal spending will strengthen significantly compared with last year, rather than soften. "The intensity of fiscal expenditures will be guaranteed."

China set the ratio of its deficit to gross domestic product at around 2.8 percent for 2022, the report said, which will be 0.4 percentage points lower than 2021.

The "two sessions," the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, started on Friday and will run through March 11.