Guangdong launches local stimulus plan

By Qiu Quanlin in Guangzhou (China Daily) Updated: 2014-05-29 07:42

Lin Jiang, head of the public finance and taxation department of Sun Yat-Sen University, said the exemption of administrative fees and stimulation of financial policy will help create a favorable business environment for companies, especially private ones.

"Companies will develop more competitiveness in the global market with reduced operation fees and increased investment in the future," said Lin.

Following a sharp drop in trade in the past four months, authorities in Guangdong also introduced a series of measures to ensure a stable boost in trade.

The import and export value of Guangdong was down 21.5 percent year-on-year to $307.56 billion in the first four months, giving a grim outlook for trade in the near future.

Guangdong, which accounts for about one quarter of China's trade, expects its own total trade to grow only 1 percent in 2014, according to a provincial government work report.

A recent notice from the provincial government said authorities will develop 10 key trade centers for imported commodities by July to better link incoming goods and domestic distribution.

Authorities will expand exports of key products and develop more efficient channels in key overseas markets, the notice said.

The authority will organize a business trip to multinational corporations to encourage more investment and orders from the world's top 500 companies.

As cross-border e-commerce grows rapidly, the authority will prioritize development of more trade service companies and cross-border e-commerce platforms, the notice said.

"Simplified procedures and more professional trade services will help exporters, especially those small and medium-sized companies, to better tap the overseas market," Xiao Feng, deputy director of Shenzhen Onetouch Business Service Co, said. The company provides Chinese exporters with online services, including customs clearance, trade financing and logistics.