V. V. CHUVANKOVA

Candidate of Economic Sciences

Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Keywords: China, small and microenterprises, tax policy, investment policy, financial and credit policy

In recent years, the Chinese Government has made unprecedented efforts to boost the economic growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Special programs are being developed to support them, and regulations governing the taxation of small and micro enterprises are being improved. Much is being done to create equal opportunities with other business entities in the field of resource allocation and lending, modernization of production, introduction of information and knowledge-intensive technologies, access to domestic and foreign markets.

It should be noted that private and individual forms of management played a key role in maintaining the high rate of development of the PRC, in fulfilling the tasks set by the XVI, XVII and XVIII Congresses of the CPC (2002, 2007, 2012). Private capital actively participated in the modernization of the economy and the creation of an innovative state, in the process of large-scale development of domestic and western regional development, revitalizing the domestic market and expanding exports, and addressing urgent social problems.

In the report of Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of the People's Republic of China at the 3rd session of the 12th National People's Congress (March 2015), it was pointed out that increasing the number of medium-sized, small and micro enterprises should not only increase production, but also help solve employment problems and increase incomes of the population.¹

NEW STANDARDS PLUS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

An important step was the publication of the new "Standard Requirements for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Various Sectors of the Economy"in China in June 2011. In contrast to those that have been in force since 2003, they distinguish three categories of small and medium - sized businesses-medium-sized enterprises, small enterprises and microenterprises.

Small businesses include industrial enterprises, each of which employs up to 300 people and the income from economic activities does not exceed 20 million yuan per year; service enterprises, which employ less than 100 people and the income does not exceed 20 million yuan, as well as agricultural, forestry, livestock and fisheries enterprises, income from which does not exceed 20 million yuan per year. activities that do not exceed 5 million yuan. Microenterprises include business entities with no more than 10-20 employees and an average income of less than 1 million yuan per year2.

In order to implement the entrepreneurship support program in the 12th five-year plan (2011-2015), the central government recognized the need to: allocate 15 billion rubles. RMB to establish a small and medium-sized enterprise development fund; increase the technical modernization fund, giving priority to supporting small and microenterprises; encourage the opening of new small enterprises; create more than 4 thousand platforms for servicing medium and small enterprises. Other measures to support them were also envisaged.

Local Governments played a special role in implementing these tasks. They were required to develop and implement financial and tax measures for small and medium-sized enterprises; provide them with low-cost but high-quality services; encourage the employment of young people, especially university graduates, and involve migrant workers from rural areas and demobilized military personnel.³

After the 5th session of the 11th National People's Congress, held in March 2012, a number of meetings of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and other government bodies were devoted to the development of measures to ensure the "healthy development of private entrepreneurship". Almost all of them mentioned the need to expand the areas where private investors could invest their capital, support private enterprises in their innovation activities, and create and improve the system of servicing private investors. These discussions resulted in the preparation and publication of a number of new policy documents.

INITIATIVE AND EFFORTS OF MINISTRIES

In the same year 2012, the Ministry of Industry and Informatization of the People's Republic of China developed a "Program of measures for servicing medium and small enterprises".-

of acceptance". As part of the program, it was planned to create 250 thousand employees. new companies that serve medium and small enterprises ⁴.

The Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China issued a statement that it encourages and supports private investors who choose to invest in transport infrastructure.⁵ It also adopted the document "Considerations for implementing measures to encourage and facilitate the inflow of non-state investments in road and water transport". It referred to the support and encouragement of private investment in the construction, maintenance, operation and management of highways, ports and waterways, in the development of urban public transport, etc. ⁶ A similar document was developed and adopted by the Ministry of Railways of the People's Republic of China.

The Chinese Banking Industry Control and Management Committee has issued a directive encouraging the participation of all forms of capital in the banking sector. In November 2012, the head of the Committee, Shang Fulin, said that private capital has already successfully penetrated the financial industry, including participation in the initial public offering of shares on the stock exchange by commercial banks and the purchase of shares. Currently, half of the share capital in small and medium-sized Chinese commercial banks is private investment, and in small and medium-sized financial institutions in rural areas, the share of private equity has reached 90%^.7

Private capital flows are encouraged to develop new sectors of the Chinese economy, which was facilitated by the adoption of the "State Program for the Development of Emerging Industries of Strategic Importance for 2011-2015" ⁸. The program is aimed at developing such industries as environmental protection, new generation information technologies, biotechnologies, new energy sources, new materials, etc. The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China has developed an "Instruction on stimulating the introduction of private capital in the sphere of trade circulation" ⁹.

In March 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Informatization of the People's Republic of China published a "Project for a special campaign to assist small and microenterprises". In particular, it stated that the state intends to support more than 500 organizations that are ready to provide services to such collectives10. And most recently, in September 2015, the State Council of the People's Republic of China decided to create a State fund for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Businesses, allocating 60 billion rubles to it. RMB. The Fund will aim to support such enterprises in their nascent stage and in the first months of operation11.

SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES IN 2013-2015

A new impetus to the development of private entrepreneurship was given by the decisions of the 3rd Plenum of the CPC Central Committee of the 18th convocation (November 2013) and the regular sessions of the NPC of the 12th convocation (March 2014-2015), aimed at activating the policy of encouraging medium, small and micro businesses. As follows from the resolution "On some important issues of comprehensive deepening of reforms" adopted at the plenum of the Central Committee, one of the priorities is to support the healthy development of the private sector as an important element in ensuring economic growth, creating new jobs, increasing tax revenues to the budget, and promoting technological innovations.

Among the specific measures to reform market regulation and entrepreneurship, the CPC Central Committee resolution mentions: emphasis on creating a favorable investment climate for private businesses; simplification of market access rules; improvement of the system for ensuring a fair market environment. The Central Committee proposes to eliminate unjustified administrative barriers for private enterprises and simplify the system of commercial and industrial registration, improve the financial services market, including by providing private businesses with the opportunity to create small and medium-sized banks and other financial and credit organizations, as well as to implement a number of reforms in the scientific and technical sphere in order to encourage innovation, etc. ¹²

In order to reduce the threshold for entering the private business market, the State Council of the People's Republic of China in October 2013 decided to abolish the mandatory requirements for the size of the authorized capital when registering a new company or enterprise from March ¹, 201413. Thus, the so-called "zero threshold" was actually adopted for the registration of private enterprises, which stimulated the growth of the number of small and micro enterprises and allowed many people to start a business with very modest savings.

In January and June 2015, the State Council of the People's Republic of China determined measures to standardize and improve the procedures for issuing administrative permits for the creation of new medium and small enterprises. It was decided to issue a single document by the trade and industry departments-a permit for conducting economic activity ¹⁴.

TAX BENEFITS: TO WHOM AND HOW ARE THEY PROVIDED?

The rules of preferential taxation are being streamlined. In particular, such rules are developed for cases of partial or complete exemption from taxes and fees, refund of taxes paid, and granting financial subsidies to private enterprises and individuals.

In July 2013, the Ministry of Finance and the General State Tax Administration (GGNU) issued a joint Notice "On temporary exemption from value-added tax and turnover tax on a part of microenterprises", according to which enterprises of this category with a monthly income of up to 20 thousand yuan were exempt from VAT and turnover tax15. Since October 2014, this threshold has been increased to 30 thousand yuan ¹⁶.

The State Council of the People's Republic of China adopted a number of additional decisions designed to-

to increase the number of small and micro enterprises that receive tax incentives. Thus, from January 1, 2014, the decree on collecting income tax from only half of the income of enterprises with an annual profit of less than 100 thousand rubles came into force. RMB ¹⁷.

Starting from January 1, 2015, the lower threshold for taxable income of small and micro enterprises was increased from 100 to 200 thousand yuan per ^year18. And since October 1 of the same year and until the end of 2017, this level, by the decision of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, from enterprises that pay tax on half of their income, has already been raised to 300 thousand yuan. It was also decided to extend the term of the rule on exemption from VAT and turnover tax of micro and small enterprises, individual farms and other business entities with sales of up to 30 thousand yuan per month ¹⁹.

In September 2013, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and the State Tax Service of China issued a joint notice concerning the reduction of the income tax base for enterprises engaged in research and development (R & D).²⁰. It concerned, first of all, small and medium-sized enterprises, since in the PRC it is in this sector of the economy that the most innovative products are produced, inventions and technical innovations are registered. By the end of 2014, there were 1.6 thousand - in Chinese terminology-scientific and technical incubator enterprises in the country. More than a thousand so-called investment institutions operated in this area, with a total capital exceeding 350 billion rubles. RMB ²¹.

More than 85% of small and micro enterprises will now be able to benefit from tax benefits; previously, such preferences applied only to 26% of such enterprises. 34 types of central and 314 types of local administrative fees have been abolished or exempted from payment ²². Benefits for deferred payment of personal income tax have been established.

Providing a large number of tax incentives and creating a favorable investment climate for private businesses has reduced the production costs of small and micro-enterprises, created favorable conditions for entrepreneurship and innovation in new industries.

According to the State Tax Service of the People's Republic of China, at the end of the first quarter of 2015, 2.16 million rubles. subjects of micro and small businesses fell under the benefits of income tax, the rate of which was reduced by half, which meant a reduction in tax deductions by 5.1 billion rubles. RMB. In addition, 27 million enterprises from the category of individual industrial and commercial farms are generally exempt from VAT and turnover tax-for a total of 18.89 billion rubles. RMB ²³.

The system of issuing new shares is being reformed to ensure more reliable protection of the rights and interests of medium and small investors. The role of small and medium-sized companies ' shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which was established 10 years ago, is rapidly growing.

The number of medium-sized and small companies listed on the market is now 19 times higher than it was in 2004, and the market value of shares offered for trading is more than 90 times higher than when the exchange was created. In 2014, 719 small and medium-sized companies were listed on this market, with a market value of RMB 3.81 trillion.²⁴

BUSINESS ASSISTANTS-BANKS

Since, as is well known, small businesses often experience problems with financing, the Chinese leadership encourages banking structures and, above all, village and village banks, to expand the range of financial services to such enterprises at relatively low lending rates. In order to expand the practice of private lending, the State Council of the People's Republic of China abolished a policy that had been in effect since 1998 prohibiting the operation of private financial institutions, thus opening up the private lending market. The Bank of China, in turn, has significantly increased the number of its own structures for providing services to small and microenterprises.²⁵

In August 2013, the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued "Recommendations on Financial Support for the Development of Small Enterprises and Microenterprises", aimed at improving small businesses ' access to credit and financial services. ²⁶ The document emphasized that, subject to risk control, it is necessary to ensure a constant increase in the volume of loans for the development of small and microenterprises.

It is planned to legalize the existence of a special type of microfinance (credit) organizations (MFIs) based on private capital and focused on servicing medium and small businesses. Since the demand for lending from them remains huge and can only be partially met by the official financial sector or cooperative funds, the minimum capital requirements for microcredit organizations have been significantly reduced and set at 5 million yuan. In the first half of 2013, the average loan portfolio of MFIs was RMB100 million.²⁷

MICROCREDIT SERVICES: THE EXPERIMENT AND ITS RESULTS

Microfinance organizations in China are rural banks, as well as micro-credit companies and credit guarantee companies. They all play an important role in alleviating the financial difficulties experienced by small and micro-enterprises, low-income individuals, and the rural sector as a whole. In recent years, the number of financial institutions such as micro-credit companies in China has been growing rapidly.

The experiment to create micro-credit companies was first launched back in 2005. Then there were less than 10 of them. In 2008, there were already 500 of them

firms, in 2011 - 4 thousand, in 2013-783928. in 2014, their number increased to 9 thousand and continues to grow ²⁹. According to available data, in the first 9 months of 2014, the total amount of loans issued by them reached 908 billion rubles. RMB ³⁰.

To date, microcredit has become an important channel for private capital to enter the financial market. According to the Chinese leadership, 12 million small and micro enterprises, from 80 to 100 million, can use the services of micro-credit companies. - individual workers and 210 million farmers ³¹.

Since it is much more difficult for small and micro enterprises in China to obtain bank loans, as financial institutions consider their lending more risky than large companies, in June 2014, the Chinese Banking Industry Control and Management Committee ordered financial institutions to set rational credit terms for small and micro enterprises, diversify credit products to better meet the needs of small and micro enterprises. to help businesses in financing and reduce their loan repayment burden, as well as support loan growth ³².

According to the Committee, the share of private capital in large national-scale banks was only about 10%. Although more than 100 small and medium-sized regional banks have more than half of the total available capital in private equity, however, control over their activities remains in the hands of the state.³³

PRIVATE INVESTMENT TODAY AND TOMORROW

Recently, many administrative acts, departmental regulations and regulatory documents on private investment have been revised in China. In order to expand the space for efficient private investment, promote the diversification of investment facilities, and develop a mixed-ownership economy, the State Development and Reform Committee of the People's Republic of China published "Guidelines on Public-Private Capital Interaction"in December 2014. They put forward requirements concerning the rules of cooperation between public and private capital, the scope of application of mechanisms for their joint review by departments, the choice of cooperation partners, the implementation of efficiency assessment, regulatory price control, etc. ³⁴

China intends to increase private investment in infrastructure and energy projects, which were previously dominated by the state and state-owned enterprises. First of all, it is planned to offer 80 pilot projects in such areas as transport and information infrastructure of a new generation, clean energy, construction of oil and gas pipelines, coal, chemical and petrochemical industry facilities.

These projects will be open to public bidding to attract private capital for their construction and operation through joint or national commercial ventures.³⁵

Local authorities are also trying to attract private investment in the development of the social sphere. Recently, 61 social projects were announced, which should be implemented with the involvement of private capital. These are projects related to rail transport (railway, metro, access roads of enterprises), highways, parking equipment, wastewater treatment, ecological improvement of rivers, solid waste processing, creation of advanced heating equipment, construction of private hospitals, homes for the elderly, cultural facilities, etc. ³⁶

Supporting small and micro-entrepreneurship has become the most important priority of the Chinese leadership's economic policy at the current stage of economic reforms and structural transformation of the country's adopted economic model. The measures taken by the Chinese leadership to create favorable conditions for administrative, tax and financial regulation contribute to an increase in the number of small and microenterprises and their employees, as well as to the growth of their skills.

This is evidenced by the results of the 3rd National Economic Census (dated December 16, 2014) and the materials of the Report on the Development of Small and Microenterprises in the PRC of the State Industrial and Commercial Administration of the PRC (dated March 31, 2014). They provide an objective and complete description of the state of small business in the country at the present stage, economic potential, regional and sectoral placement ³⁷.

THE NUMBERS ARE CONVINCING: SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES ARE THE FUTURE

According to data released by the State Industrial and Commercial Administration of the People's Republic of China, small and medium-sized businesses create 60% of the country's GDP. It accounts for half of the total amount of tax revenues to the budget, 65% of technical patents and more than 80% of new types of innovative products. Small and medium-sized companies are leaders among enterprises of all forms of ownership in terms of value added and profit.

Small and micro enterprises account for 94.2% of the total number of market entities registered in China's industrial and commercial system. 70% of China's urban residents and over 80% of migrant workers-workers and peasants - are employed in small and microenterprises.³⁸

The structure of small and microenterprises is differentiated according to the forms of ownership. The main form of private enterprises is small and microenterprises. They account for 80.7% of private enterprises. 85% of enterprises in this category are microenterprises, while 15% are small ones.

The share of small and microenterprises among state-owned and collective enterprises is 61.4%. Among enterprises based on foreign capital - 53.9%³⁹. Individual enterprises, in accordance with the new Standard Requirements, are virtually all classified as microenterprises, since they employ less than 10 employees.

The geographical location of small and microenterprises varies not only across different regions, but also within provinces and between urban and rural areas.

The vast majority of small and microenterprises-60.4% - are concentrated in 11 eastern provinces and cities. They also contain 2/3 of the total number of industrial enterprises in this category. 8 central provinces account for 20.4% of such enterprises, while 12 western provinces, autonomous regions and cities account for 17.2%.

As for the sectoral structure of small and microenterprises, more than half of them are concentrated in wholesale and retail trade and industry, including mining, manufacturing, production and distribution of electricity, heat, gas and water ⁴⁰.

Although the growth rate of the Chinese economy has slowed in recent years, the number of new jobs has not decreased, but rather increased due to the increase in the number of private and individual enterprises, the main component of small and microenterprises, the growth of their economic potential and their role in fulfilling the tasks facing the country.

By the beginning of 2015, about 33% of the country's economically active population was employed in these sectors, with almost two-thirds concentrated in cities and towns. The growth, compared to the previous year, was 31.2 million people41. The number of enterprises exceeded 60 million, including more than 46 million of them - individual. The total authorized capital is close to 50 trillion yuan ⁴².

The share of private investment in national fixed assets (excluding peasant households) exceeded 64% ⁴³. At the end of June 2015, 264 million people were already employed in the private and individual sectors of the economy; 190 million of them worked in the service sector.⁴⁴

* * *

The implementation of the state program of support for small and microenterprises opens up wide opportunities for the stable development of business activities of citizens in all areas of the Chinese economy, and helps to reduce social tension in society.

¹ People's Daily. 17.03.2015.

² For more information, see: Chuvankova V. V. Gosudarstvennaya podderzhka melkogo i srednego predprinimatelstva v KNR: novyi etap // Problems of the Far East, 2013, N 3. (Chuvankova V. V. 2013. Gosudarstvennaya podderzhka melkogo i srednego predprinimatelstva v KNR: novyi etap / / Problem Dalnego Vostok. N 3) (in Russian)

³ People's Daily. 02.02.2012; http://russion.people.com.cn/31518y7654098.html

⁴ http:/mandarin-cargo.ru/news/24_gosgarantii-dlya-malyh-predpriya...

⁵ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/7795529.html

⁶ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/7877131.html

⁷ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/8014406.html

⁸ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/7886582.html

⁹ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/7761297.html

¹⁰ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/8160201.html

¹¹ http://russion.people.com.cn/n/2015/0914/c95181 - 8949435 - 2.html

¹² People's Daily. 16.11.2013.

¹³ http://russion.people.com.cn/31521/8438193.html

¹⁴ http://russion.people.com.en/n/2015/0618/c31518 - 8908298.html

¹⁵ http://cnlegal.ru/china_taxation/microenterprise_vat_business-tax_exem.html

¹⁶ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/0226/c31518 - 8853815.html

¹⁷ http://russian.people.com.en/n/31518/8609423.html

¹⁸ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/0226/c31518 - 8853815.html

¹⁹ http://russion.people.com.en/n/2015/0820/c31518 - 8939113.html

²⁰ http://cnlegal.ru/china_taxation/enterprise_income_tax_research developmentexpenses/

^{21 http://russian.people.com.cn/n/2015/0216/c31518 - 885165}7.html

²² People's Daily. 16.03.2014.

²³ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/0505/c31518 - 8887364.html

²⁴ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/0526/c31518 - 8732402.html

²⁵ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/7615989.html

²⁶ http://cnlegal.ru/china_economic_law/state_council_small_business_finance/

²⁷ http://giovanni1313.1ivejournal.com/tag/кредитование.

²⁸ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/1026/c31518 - 8799963.html

²⁹ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/0131/c31518 - 8844009.html

³⁰ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/0726/c31518 - 8761265.html; http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/1012/c31518 - 8960571.html

³¹ http://www.ca-sme.org/content.asp7id-37250

³² http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/0726/c31518 - 8761267.html

³³ http://russion.people.com.en/31518/8562915.html

³⁴ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/1205/c31521 - 8818613.html

³⁵ http://russion.people.com.cn/31521/8608463.html

³⁶ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2014/1210/c31518 - 8820602.html

³⁷ For more information, see: Chuvankova V. V. Rol ' i mesto malogo predprinimatel'stva v ekonomike PRC na novom etape ekonomicheskoi reformy [The role and place of small entrepreneurship in the Chinese economy at the new stage of Economic Reform]. Rol i mesto malogo predprinimatelstva v ekonomike KNR na novom etape ekonomicheskoi reformy // Problemy Dalnego Vostoka. N 4) (in Russian)

³⁸ http://www.saic.gov.en/ywdt/gsyw/zjyw/xxb/201403Д20140333_143495.html (Report on the Development of Small and Microenterprises in the People's Republic of China by the State Industrial and Commercial Administration of the People's Republic of China)

³⁹ Ibid.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ http://russian.people.com.cn/2015/0123/с31518 - 8840294.html; Zhongguo tongji zhaiyao-2015. Beijing, 2015. p. 40.

⁴² http://russian.people.com.cn/2014/0613/с31518 - 8740785.html

⁴³ People's Daily. 18.03.2015.

⁴⁴ http://russian.people.com.en/n/2015/0717/c31518 - 8921890.html

Permanent link to this publication: