Xie Xuren, director of the State Administration of Taxation, said that China will also move ahead to revise existing tax on use of farmland for nonagricultural purpose, readjust the administrative mechanism of contract tax, formulate programs to introduce pro-business transformation of value-added tax nationwide while doing a good job in experimenting with the transformation of the tax in northeast China.

Addressing a national conference on taxation, the director said China will continue to implement its improved policies on export tax rebates, the revised individual income tax law, and the policy changes to increase energy and resources efficiency.

He pledged to carry forward new policies to readjust tax rebate rates on some energy-intensive and polluting goods for exports to discourage exports, and tax policies to inspire technological upgrading of enterprises, and study ways of how to encourage independent innovation.

Xie said China will go on carrying out policies to benefit farmers and agriculture and rural development as part of the measures to narrow the widening gap between the rural and urban areas.

Meanwhile, China will step up the management of international tax and collection of tax involving overseas-funded firms, improve tax regulations concerning multinationals to prevent tax evasion, he said.

The country will also work to improve tax policies to encourage the restructuring of China's cultural sector, including preferential tax policies for moral building for minors for such products as selected computer game products, and pre-tax deduction policies for charity donations, said the director.

China posted a record high of 3.0866 trillion yuan (US$381 billion) in tax revenues, excluding tariffs and agricultural tax in 2005, up 20 percent year on year, the country's top tax official said Sunday.

Revenues from domestic value-added tax, consumption tax and sales tax totaled 1.6564 trillion yuan, up 18.2 percent. It contributes 49.5 percent of the increased tax revenues. Total income tax revenues from domestic and overseas-funded firms, and individuals stood at 760.5 billion yuan, or 30.9 percent year-on-year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2006)