Policies and regulations governing the establishment of enterprises with exclusive foreign investment, joint ventures, and cooperative enterprises.

Article 1: All the natural resources, industries, and markets in Ningxia except those especially stipulated by the state are open to the whole country. State-owned, collective-owned, private-operated, the three types of enterprises, businessmen working on their own, colleges, universities, and research institutes in and outside of Ningxia are welcome to carry out multi-level, multi-form, multi-factor economic and technological cooperation or run enterprises with investment of their tangible and intangible assets. The autonomous region shall render prompt, satisfactory service in registration, approval of the establishment of projects, and the creation of necessary conditions.

Article 2: Productive enterprises with exclusive foreign investment (including bases established for the production of raw materials) may enjoy exemption from the income tax for five years upon the commission of the enterprises and a refund of 25 percent of the value-added tax, urban construction and maintenance tax, tax regulating the orientation of investment of fixed assets, and house tax within a period of five years after the enterprises are in operation. They shall be exempt from the tax for the use of land during the period of construction and for another five years after they are in operation. Enterprises engaged in the development of resources shall be entitled to a refund of the resource tax for three to five years and exemption from the additional fees of the circulation tax. The income of the enterprises during the income-tax exemption period shall be regarded as duty-paid. After the expiration of tax exemption, proper tax reduction shall be granted to the enterprises, which have difficulties in operation or need a large amount of investment for technical renovations and expansions. Preferential policies can be liberalized to a proper extent in Taole County and the eight counties in the mountain area of southern Ningxia.

Article 3: Productive joint ventures and cooperative enterprises newly established in Ningxia as well as key extension projects approved by the state and autonomous region with the amount of investment by outside partners accounting for more than 25 percent of the total investment and the term of joint venture and cooperation more than ten years may enjoy three-five years' exemption of the income tax for the newly-added economic result in accordance with the ratio of investment by the outside partners, a 25 percent refund of the value-added tax and a 50 percent refund of the urban construction and maintenance tax, tax regulating the orientation of investment of fixed assets, tax for land-use, and house tax for five years. They shall also be entitled to exemption from the additional fees of the circulation tax as stipulated by the government of the autonomous region. During the tax exemption and reduction period, the profits distributed to them shall be regarded as duty-paid. Preferential policies may be liberalized in the eight counties in the southern mountain area and Taole County to a proper extent.

Article 4: Ventures with exclusive foreign investment and cooperative enterprises (with outside partner's investment more than 500,000 yuan and the term of cooperation longer than five years) in tertiary industry (not including the development of real estate, recreational businesses, catering industry, and hotel industry) shall be entitled to a 3-4 years' exemption from the income tax, a 1-2 years' refund of the business tax, three years' refund of 50 percent of the urban construction and maintenance tax, tax regulating the orientation of investment of fixed assets, tax for land-use, and house tax.

Article 5: Ventures with exclusive foreign investment, joint ventures, and cooperative enterprises established in the autonomous region may enjoy 30-50 percent discount of the fixed land price for using cultivated land upon approval by the government. They shall be allowed to transfer the right for the use of land after five years of operation.

Article 6: Those engaged in the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery shall be exempt from the agricultural tax and tax for special agricultural and forestry products for six years from the year they begin to make profit. Those engaged in the development of poverty-relief projects in the eight counties in the mountain area and Taole County shall be exempt from the agricultural tax and tax for special agricultural and forestry products for ten years. The wasteland they need can be provided by means of assignment.

Article 7: Ventures exclusively with one's own investment and proprietary cooperative enterprises engaged in highly-processing agricultural resources and the amount of investment surpassing two million yuan shall be exempt from the income tax for eight years beginning with the year they're in operation. Those with investment surpassing five million yuan may enjoy income-tax exemption for ten years beginning with the year of operation.

Close