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Hainan Free Trade Ports Act (Draft) was first revised after the island-wide special supervision zone is no longer reserved
Our reporter Pei Yu reports from Beijing
On December 26, the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress closed in Beijing. At this meeting, many laws and regulations were reviewed or passed, including the Criminal Amendment, the Juvenile Crime Prevention Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law, and the National Defense Law. However, the Hainan Free Trade Ports (Draft) Act (hereinafter “the Draft”) has attracted more attention from business and economic circles.
In the “draft” submitted for review for the first time, after the island-wide customs clearance operation of the Hainan free trade port, the “zero duty” policy was also applied to imported goods that were not in the positive list. It was first proposed in the form of a legal text, signifying the freedom of Hainan. The commercial port’s special status of “non-copyable” will soon be confirmed at the legal level.
The reporter learned that after the island-wide customs clearance operation fully implements zero import tariffs, the existing special customs supervision zones, such as the Yangpu Customs Port Area and the Comprehensive Customs Zone of Haikou, they will no longer hold. Relevant regulatory implementation plans will be subject to the relevant regulatory authorities. Formulate separately. According to the “General Plan for the Construction of the Free Trade Port of Hainan” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”), the period of customs closure throughout the island is initially set in 2025.
Legal confirmation of the “plan”
According to statutory information released at the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the “draft” of the Hainan Free Trade Ports Law entered the group discussion stage on December 24. Prior to this, the Meeting of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress decided that the 24th meeting of the 13th National People’s Congress will review the Hainan Free Trade Ports Act (Draft) (hereinafter referred to as the “Draft”) .
At the time of this newspaper’s “China Business News” reporter release, the “draft” has not been published in full. The reporter learned that the “Draft” is divided into eight chapters and 54 articles, covering “managing authority”, “authorized legislation”, “investment liberalization and facilitation”, “tax system”, “environmental protection ecological “and other aspects. It covers the basic lines and areas of the construction and operation of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
“Before, although there was a free trade zone, it was generally at the level of local regulations. Only the Hainan Free Trade Port was implemented in the form of national legislation. We think this means that the Hainan Free Trade Port has a set of policies and implementations. Particularly, understanding this point is very important for business investment. ”On December 27, a person in charge of state-owned companies with long-term investments in Hainan told reporters.
Judging from the information released at the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, the “Draft” is basically a revision of the “General Plan for the Construction of the Free Trade Port of Hainan” (hereinafter, the “Plan “) regarding the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. “Legal confirmation” of the general spirit, policy means and implementation methods. Previously, the “plan” clearly stated that the formulation of the Hainan Free Trade Ports Law should be accelerated.
Since it is the first time that the “draft” has been presented to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for deliberation, at the conclusion of the December 26 meeting, the Hainan Free Trade Port Law was not included in the list of passed laws. The exact situation that the reporter has obtained shows that the law will continue to be reviewed next year. The current consensus of the National People’s Congress on the procedures and progress of the revision of this law is to “fight for a prompt publication.”
The journalist learned that in the relevant classification of the legislative work of the National People’s Congress, the Hainan Free Trade Ports Law is classified as: “strengthening the protection of the rule of law for major national strategies.”
“Customs closure” and tax exemption
Hainan Island, where the Hainan Free Trade Port is located, with its special geographical location, makes it natural to be physically isolated. It is precisely on this basis that the “Draft”, based on the basic spirit of “opening the first line and controlling the second line” proposed by the “Plan”, is added to a series of relevant policies and measures of the Free Trade Port from Hainan that are currently being tested and implemented in the future. Legal confirmation.
A person in charge of a private company investing in Hainan told reporters that he is very concerned about the Hainan Free Trade Ports Law. He runs an auto parts manufacturing company, some parts and equipment need to be imported from abroad, so he is very concerned about tax policies. “We also all know that legal taxation is the basic principle. The reason moving the production line to Hainan is to invent preferential policies on import tariffs. It already exists, but as a company, I still hope that the law can be determined. and will remain unchanged.. “
Currently, the Hainan Free Trade Port adopts the “positive list” system in its tariff policies on imported products, raw materials, parts and components. That is, only the goods, raw materials, parts, etc. Imported from the “positive list” can enjoy the reduction or exemption of import duties and related taxes, and the positive list will be adjusted by the relevant regulatory authorities according to the situation.
However, this is only a temporary state. According to the relevant content of the “Draft”, in terms of the tax system, after the entire island of Hainan is closed for customs operations and the tax system is simplified, the goods that are not in the catalog of products subject to tax imports will be exempt from import duties. This means that it will outperform the current “positive lists” management system and product categories.
Currently, the Hainan Free Trade Port has an outlying islands tax exemption policy for personal consumer goods based on the “positive list”; At the same time, for the “double-outer” production and processing enterprises in Hainan, the corresponding raw materials, parts and equipment for production are imported. Etc., exemption from import duties.
“Hainan is an island that can be physically separated from the mainland, forming a natural first line and a second line. The first line refers to the island and the second line is from the island to the outside. In the future, the island will be free of import duties, but the island The link from the interior to the exterior of the island must be supervised and the corresponding taxes must be paid, “said the head of the aforementioned central company in Hainan.
Special supervision area
According to the “Plan”, the entire island of Hainan will be closed for operations in 2025. After the closure of the island, under the system of “open the first line and control the second line”, the Free Trade Port of Hainan will implement tariffs zero on imported products. However, in this context, the question of whether to exit or stay in the special customs supervision zone in Hainan has gradually arisen.
The so-called special customs supervision zone refers to a specific functional economic zone established within the customs territory of the People’s Republic of China, endowed with special functions and policies to carry out international industrial transfers and connect national and international markets, and supervision closed by part of customs. Customs areas, export processing zones, customs logistics parks, cross-border industrial parks, customs port areas, and comprehensive customs areas are all areas under special customs supervision.
Many people from the local Hainan business community told reporters that the two most important customs supervision zones in Hainan are the Yangpu Customs Port Zone and the Haikou Comprehensive Easement Zone. “If the island’s zero import duty system is implemented after the closure of the island’s customs operations, there is little need for these special customs supervision zones, because one of the main differences between the existing special customs supervision zones it’s fiscal policies. ” The person in charge of the aforementioned business of the private company told reporters.
The reporter’s information shows that decision-making and oversight departments have also considered this issue. According to the current system design, the Yangpu Consolidated Port area and the entire Haikou Consolidated Area will no longer be preserved after the entire island is closed for operation. The relevant departments will formulate the related regulatory policies and how to implement them.
Currently, the Yangpu customs port area implements a series of policies related to tax reduction and exemption. However, the journalist learned that these tax relief policies are not limited to production, manufacturing and circulation, but include others as well. For example, according to the relevant regulations, it is not prohibited to live in the Yangpu Free Port area and establish commercial facilities for profit. This method of supervision is really significant.
(Editor: Hao Cheng review: Yan Jingning)
