Hengqin drops taxes to encourage tourism industry

Hengqin New Area will offer tourism enterprises a reduced corporate income tax (CIT) rate of 15 percent as it continues to become an international recreation island.

An Application Guideline on Hengqin New Area's CIT Preferential Catalogue (Tourism Sector) (Trial) was recently released. According to the document, enterprises registered in Hengqin can determine their own eligibility and then apply for preferential treatment. Relevant materials should be available for potential examination.

The Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration included the tourism sector into Hengqin's CIT preferential catalogue in August. It made Hengqin the second free trade area after Fujian's Pingtan to issue application guidelines for tourism enterprises to enjoy a preferential CIT rate.

The policy is expected to propel the development of high-quality leisure tourism products related to culture, sport, business, and healthcare, and encourage the inflow of Hong Kong and Macao capital and mature tourism brands to Hengqin.

It takes tourism transport, comprehensive support facilities, and an intelligent tourism service system into consideration, with the aim of bolstering Hengqin as an All-for-One Tourism demonstrative zone with a complete industrial chain.

Experts at the University of Macau were invited to take part in the compilation. They will introduce internationalized leisure tourism market regulations, tap into tourism cooperation between Hengqin and Macao, and help Macao become a world tourism and leisure center, according to an official at Hengqin New Area.