CHINA TOPIX

03/28/2024 06:12:50 am

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Chinese Government Urges Migrant Workers to Start Businesses, Offers Tax Incentives

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(Photo : Getty Images) Photo taken on June 15, 2015 shows an aerial view of the Riji Village at Yajiang County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Since July of 2014, 13 of the whole 64 households started a business of running rural Tibetan style hotels in Riji Village, which is proximate to the No. 318 national way, a main road leading to Tibet with fine scenery.

China's State Council on Sunday released a call to action for migrant workers to return to their hometowns, share what they've learned to people in rural areas, and start their own companies. 

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The government hopes that the set of guidelines will create more jobs, increase household incomes, and bridge the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of infrastructure and technological knowledge. The knowledge exchange is also expected to integrate industries and agriculture. 

Migrant entrepreneurs who have already established large businesses in urban areas are encouraged to bring a portion of the company, open a branch, or relaunch the business entirely in their respective hometowns. Owners of small businesses are also asked to upgrade to larger ones. 

To develop the country's agriculture sector, migrant workers are persuaded to create agriculture-related firms or organizations such as family-run farms, agricultural factories, and farmers' cooperatives. Meanwhile, those who are educated in information technology are urged to "link supplies and demands for certain goods between their hometowns and where they work."

Speaking to Global Times on Monda, Wang Xiaoying, a research fellow at the Rural Development Institute, said, "There is great growth potential in rural areas, in terms of both infrastructure and people's living conditions, so there is huge demand."

In return for all these, the government will ease the business application processes and simplify the procedures. Companies that will follow the guidelines will have reduced enterprise income tax, added value tax, and sales tax, or even exempt them from selected taxes and fees altogether. 

The policies also said that the government will offer financial support to start up companies through investment subsidies and subsidies for loan interest. In line with this, the state council urged banks to "step up lending." 

It will also put emphasis on manpower and will sponsor trainings for better skills. The government is also opening public service positions for migrant workers in the field of social security, education, housing, and medical care. 

The call to action also applies to inactive soldiers and college graduates, who are the most knowledgeable in information technology. 

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