On March 1st, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other departments updated the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries in the Hainan Free Trade Port for this year.
According to the NDRC, the 2024 catalogue continues to adopt the format of the existing national catalogue with the newly added regional catalogue. The national directory includes the encouraged industries in the Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment and the Catalogue for Encouraging Foreign Investment Industries.
The “Regional New Catalogue” has been further revised based on the implementation feedback in recent years and the actual situation of Hainan, focusing on key industries such as tourism, modern services and high-tech industries. It includes 14 major industries and 176 items, an increase of 33 items compared with the previous version. Notable additions encompass cultural tourism, new energy, medicine and health, aviation and aerospace, and ecological and environmental protection, among others.
According to the “Overall Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port” issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, encouraged industries and enterprises registered in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and conducting substantive business activities are entitled to a reduced corporate tax rate of 15 percent.
Output products produced by encouraged industrial enterprises with or without imported intermediary products but whose added value is not less than 30 percent after being processed in the Hainan FTP are exempt from import tariffs when entering the rest of China from the “second line” (Hainan FTP), and their import value-added tax and consumption tax shall be levied in accordance with regulations.
Enterprises in encouraged industries that meet the conditions can enjoy the above-mentioned preferential policies per relevant documents. Hainan is the conductor of the 2024 edition of the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries. During the conducting process, the tax and other departments of the province are responsible for judging whether the main businesses of the enterprises belong to the catalogue. If situations are difficult to accurately determine, the tax and other departments can request the Provincial Development and Reform Commission to define them, and the Commission should provide opinions within the prescribed time.