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营商环境报告:东亚经济体继续大力推进改革议程改善营商环境

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世界银行集团今天发布的《2019年营商环境报告:强化培训,促进改革》称,东亚太平洋地区各经济体继续大力推进改革议程,在过去一年里实施了43项改革以改善中小企业的营商便利度。

在东亚太平洋地区的25个经济体中,有两个经济体位列世界排名前十,即,新加坡(排名第2位)和中国香港特别行政区(上升一位至第4位)。中国跻身今年营商环境改善排名前十。中国在过去一年实施7项改革,创单年度记录,在全球排名中上升至第46位。马来西亚也取得显著改善,重新进入世界排名前二十的经济体行列,排名上升9位至第15位。

中国在报告涵盖的北京和上海两城市通过网络扩容和免费通电,使获得电力更加便利。为客户推出新的手机APP也使报装接电所需时间从143天缩短为34天。通过取消营业税,允许所有印花税联合申报和缴纳,并通过实施多项行政改革措施缩短合规纳税所需时间,使纳税更加便利。在办理施工许可方面,简化了申办施工许可证和注册登记新建筑物的程序,提高了质量控制标准。中国还通过加强股东在重大公司决策中的权利和作用,明晰所有权和控制结构,要求对股东产生的法律费用给予报销,从而加强了对少数投资者的保护。中国实施的其他改革还包括提升了开办企业、跨境贸易和登记财产的便利度。

马来西亚实施了6项改革,通过简化获得建筑许可的程序,使办理施工许可证更便利,通过推出商品及服务税(GST)在线注册系统,增加了开办企业的便利度。马来西亚还在其他领域进行了改革,包括推出在线单一窗口平台,使财产转移和公司办理破产更便利。

印度尼西亚和越南在过去一年里各进行了3项改革。在印尼,改革目的是简化开办企业、登记财产的手续,改善获得信贷的机会。在越南,改善措施提高了执行合同、纳税和开办企业的便利度。

在菲律宾,通过加强股东在重大公司决策中的权利和作用,以及明晰所有权和控制结构,加强了对少数投资者的保护。在开办企业方面,菲律宾简化了办理税务登记和营业许可证的程序,但增加了税务登记成本。增加进口检查的次数,加大了跨境贸易的难度,从而延长了边境合规所需要的平均时间。

其他国家的改革包括蒙古国通过降低原告费用,使执行合同变得更容易,而东帝汶通过降低最低实缴资本要求,减少了开办企业的成本。

编制《营商环境报告》的世行全球指标局高级经理丽塔·拉马霍说:“东亚太平洋地区在促进创业和私营企业方面取得了重大进展。随着该地区改革势头不断增强,掉队的经济体也有机会学习邻国采取的良好做法。”

该地区经济体在营商环境的办理施工许可证和获取电力领域表现良好。例如,建造一个仓库平均需要133天,成本不到仓库价值的2%,而全球平均水平为158天,成本为仓库价值的4.8%。

在执行合同等领域仍存在改善的空间,需要更广泛地采用国际良好实践,例如替代性争议解决制度和建立专门的商事法院。该地区四分之三的经济体没有专门审理商业案件的法院。此外,该地区解决商业纠纷的成本平均占索赔金额的47%,而全球的这一比例为33%。

在过去一年该地区进行的改革中,实施了10项使开办企业更加便利的改革,其中7项是使获得电力的过程便利化,5项是使办理施工许可证更容易、更安全。

自2003年营商环境项目开始以来,开办企业一直是东亚太平洋地区最普遍的改革领域。因此,该地区开办企业的平均耗时几乎缩短了一半,从2003年的50天缩短为28天,成本从2003年人均收入的59%大幅减少到现在的19%。

今年,《营商环境报告》收集了对政府官员和企业及土地注册登记处用户提供的培训数据。报告中的一个案例通过分析这些数据,发现对有关官员的强制性和年度培训与提高企业和土地注册登记效率相关。关于执行合同和处理破产的第二个案例研究了世界各地的法官教育和培训,发现印尼制度化的法官培训计划对成功实施建立小额索赔法院的改革措施和顺利通过新破产法起到了支持作用,压缩了审理破产案件所需时间。另外两个案例侧重于研究电工认证和海关官员培训的效益。

报告全文及其数据集参见:chinese.doingbusiness.org

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China Scraps Health Declaration Requirement for All Travelers from November 1

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China has lifted all COVID-19 travel requirements, including the need to fill out a health declaration form. Travelers should still report symptoms voluntarily, however.

Travelers leaving and entering China are no longer required to fill in the China health declaration form, meaning that China has now lifted all travel requirements related to COVID-19. Travelers should still voluntarily report themselves to Customs staff if they have symptoms or have been diagnosed with an infectious disease. 

China’s General Administration of Customs (“Customs”) has announced that, as of Wednesday, November 1, 2023, it will no longer require people leaving and entering China to fill in the Entry/Exit Health Declaration Card (“Health Declaration Card”). This card was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to screen travelers for symptoms of COVID-19 by asking them to fill out a survey on their current health conditions and symptoms. The system then generated a QR code that travelers had to show to Customs staff when leaving or entering the country.

The removal of the Health Declaration Card requirement means that China has now lifted all COVID-era restrictions and requirements for travelers leaving and entering the country. This move could help to encourage more international travel to and from China, and will further improve the travel experience for passengers.

Existing regulations on declaring possible symptoms of infectious disease when traveling will still be in place, as we discuss below.

Read the original article.

China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.

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Chinese commercial banks fear stimulus measures will do littl…

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China’s commercial banks are raising questions about whether the central bank’s recent cut to outstanding mortgage rates will be sufficient to hold back a flood of mortgage prepayments and help protect bank margins.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) unveiled new guidance last month requiring commercial banks to lower interest rates on outstanding mortgages for first-home loans. The new rates, which will be effective starting on September 25, aimed at stimulating consumption while also reducing the incentive for households to pay down their mortgages early, which had led to a decline in bank profits.

“Lowering outstanding mortgage rates will help alleviate the interest burden on households,” a spokesperson for the PBOC told local media on Wednesday, adding that the new rules have already led to a decline in prepayments, and will help improve household balance sheets and consumer confidence.

The measure has led at least some homebuyers to reconsider their mortgage prepayments.

Officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing on September 30, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Kang Chao, an insurance company employee in Changsha, in southeast China’s Hunan province, told the Post that a new mortgage rate of 4.2 per cent could help his family free up about 1,700 yuan (US$234) each month to cover living expenses.

“[My wife] and I both took out mortgage loans in 2018 and 2019, when the interest rates were as high as 5.15 per cent,” he said. “Each month, we need to pay about 9,800 yuan, and this leaves us no more than 3,000 yuan to spend on everything else.

“So we were under a lot of pressure to pay off our debt quickly, especially after we had a child. At one point, we were even considering selling one of our houses. Now that the new policy is out, we feel somewhat relieved.”

An estimated US$700 billion in mortgages, representing around 12 per cent of the country’s total mortgage balance, has been prepaid since 2022, according to analysts.

China property support spurs buying but sceptics warn of weak demand

Chinese commercial banks could see an earnings decline of up to 5 per cent this year if the prepayment wave persists, according to analysts’ estimates. However, if banks refinance home loans at lower rates, their net profits could also drop by 1 to 5 per cent, a report by Fitch Ratings said.

Early repayment is a behaviour driven by interest rates, and as the gap between new and outstanding mortgage rates narrows, the incentive to pay down mortgages early will start to decrease, said Gary Ng, senior economist for Asia-Pacific thematic research at Natixis.

“However, it does not mean [lowering outstanding mortgage rates] is a panacea for boosting China’s household confidence in properties,” he said. “The confidence issue is complex, and it will take more than rate cuts to repair. Although early repayment will ease, mortgage growth is not likely to see a significant jump.”

A banking analyst at the Beijing branch of a commercial bank echoed this…

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China trade: exports tumble for fourth consecutive month in A…

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China’s exports tumbled for the fourth consecutive month in August amid weak external demand and ongoing global supply chain upheaval, posing more challenges to the world’s second-largest economy as it struggles to carve out a path to a post-pandemic rebound.

Exports fell by 8.8 per cent compared to a year earlier to US$284.9 billion last month, according to customs data released on Thursday.

The decline, however, narrowed from a fall of 14.5 per cent in July, and was above the forecast by Chinese financial data provider Wind for a 9.5 per cent decline.

Imports, meanwhile, fell by 7.3 per cent last month to US$216.5 billion, narrowing from a 12.4 per cent decline in July, and exceeding the expectations from Wind for a drop of 8.2 per cent.

China’s total trade surplus in August stood at US$68.4 billion, down from US$80.6 billion in July.

“The typhoon in mid-July likely disrupted port operations in July and the normalisation of that could add to trade growth in August,” said economists from Goldman Sachs.

Improved year-over-year growth of oil prices would have also helped import growth last month, they added.

Heron Lim, assistant director and economist at Moody’s Analytics, said exports are expected to continue their retreat as weakness across the broader global economy keeps new export orders soft.

Will belt and road, Asean trade be China’s silver lining amid US de-risking?

“But as trade performance was already weakening from the second half of 2022, it will be slower,” he said.

The data showed that China’s exports to most of its major trading partners continued to shrink, although the declines narrowed from July.

Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – China’s largest trade partner – fell by 13.25 per cent compared to a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Exports to the European Union, meanwhile, declined by 19.58 per cent, year on year, while shipments to the United States dropped for the 13th consecutive month after falling by 9.53 per cent.

The figures still suggest the headwinds remain despite some marginal improvement

Zhou Hao

Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan International, said while the August trade figures came in slightly better than expected, the overall momentum remains lukewarm.

“In general, the figures still suggest the headwinds remain despite some marginal improvement,” Zhou said.

“Looking ahead, whether China’s trade growth has already hit the bottom will hinge on several factors. The most important one is obviously the domestic demand where the recent property easing might provide some support in the short term.

“In the meantime, the rising oil prices suggest that the import growth in value terms might pick up somewhat in the foreseeable future.”

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