The spread of COVID-19 epidemic around the world has brought great impact on the world economy, especially on international trade. In Guangdong, a major foreign trade province in China, the total import and export volume decreased by 11.8% in the first quarter of this year, of which exports decreased by 14.4%. A large number of foreign trade enterprises are facing the dual pressures of insufficient supply of raw materials and reduced orders.
In the interview, the reporter found that with the continuous acceleration of export tax rebate and the implementation of a package of preferential policies to support epidemic prevention and control, the pressure and burden of export enterprises have been reduced, and they have used the saved funds on the "cutting edge" and quickly responded to the new situation of foreign trade by changing production and reselling, and achieved a breakthrough against the trend.
Tax "blood transfusion" to help enterprises tide over the difficulties
In contrast to the obvious decline in foreign trade data, it is the steady increase in tax policy support.
According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the tax authorities of Guangdong Province handled 65.674 billion yuan of tax refund for 35,000 export enterprises in the province, and the proportion of "non-contact" processing was nearly 100%. Since February, the average processing time of export tax rebate in the province has been shortened to five working days, which is half of the national average processing time last year.
Guangdong Yuanhua New Materials Co., Ltd. is a production-oriented export enterprise specializing in household products such as anti-skid mats and yoga mats. Due to the foreign epidemic, the company’s export orders have been greatly reduced, and its sales in March decreased by nearly 50% compared with the same period last year. After learning about this situation, the tax department of Foshan City immediately provided online guidance to enterprises to submit export tax refund applications, and at the same time strengthened communication and coordination with the state treasury, and soon returned the tax to the enterprise account. Wang Lianzhen, the company’s financial controller, said: "The export tax rebate of nearly 3 million yuan has reduced our financial pressure and enhanced our confidence in the follow-up development."
While production-oriented enterprises enjoy the rapid "blood transfusion" of export tax rebate, many enterprises engaged in cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade transactions have also received tax relief packages to varying degrees.
Huizhou Chuanghui Plastic Co., Ltd. is a small and micro enterprise, mainly producing plastic toys, all of which are exported to Europe, America, Canada and other places. Affected by the epidemic, the turnover of enterprises fell by 60%, while the cost of manpower and logistics increased a lot, which made business operators "under great pressure". Yu Zhiqiang, the person in charge of the company, said: "The export tax rebate exceeding 30,000 yuan and the social security fee reduction of 75,000 yuan have solved our urgent needs and added a bit of confidence for enterprises to tide over the difficulties."
In order to help foreign trade enterprises meet the challenges, State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China Guangdong Provincial Taxation Bureau has specially set up ledgers for key industries and major export enterprises, deeply understood the impact of the epidemic on enterprises and their demands, and adopted a series of targeted measures to ensure the stable operation of the foreign trade industrial chain supply chain.
Moving to China, the new platform has new opportunities.
At present, many foreign trade enterprises are actively catering to the new market situation and new trends.
Exporting to domestic market is a self-help method chosen by many foreign trade enterprises. The trend of new industries, such as 5G and industrial Internet, has enabled Jinbao Electronics (China) Co., Ltd. to "sniff" business opportunities.
"After discussion, we decided to access the regional 5G supply chain and provide base station equipment, wireless modules and other products for well-known domestic communication enterprises, from foreign trade to domestic sales." Liu Yuanhua, the company’s financial manager, said, "Thanks to the help of the tax department on the road to transformation, we dare to take a bold step." He said that the tax reduction red envelopes that have been received in succession have revitalized the company’s capital flow and enabled the company to invest more capital in optimizing production equipment and production processes for domestic customers.
At the same time, the market transformation drives a series of adjustments in the development and operation of enterprises. How to apply for the certificate of enterprises turning to domestic sales? How to connect the departments of taxation, customs and foreign exchange management? After learning about Jinbao Electronics’ demands, the tax department of Dongguan City quickly formed a special group to provide one-on-one counseling to help enterprises establish a new tax-related management model and follow the trend of "transformation".
For the enterprise itself, "export to domestic sales" is the beginning of accelerating the layout of the domestic market, and Guangdong Yuanhua New Materials Co., Ltd. has a similar plan. During the epidemic, the popularity of home fitness products continued to rise. Concerned about this trend, Yuanhua New Materials quickly adjusted its marketing strategy and turned to domestic sales.
In order to attract more potential customers and increase customer stickiness, the company aims at the needs of domestic consumers while accelerating cooperation with online e-commerce, and promptly adjusts the product delivery structure. "The fast tax refund has increased the capital’ living water’, and we immediately invested in product research and development to accelerate the development of new fitness products with both fashion sense and scientific and technological content." Wang Lianzhen said: "The tax department also counseled us to publish product information on the Zhilian platform of Guangdong tax industry chain to help us further expand our sales."
At present, adjusting the direction of production and sales in line with market demand has made Yuanhua new materials catch the "express train" of domestic sales, and the company’s sales in March have doubled compared with that in February.
Demand-oriented, cross-border transformation and new development
In order to better adapt to the new foreign trade environment, many enterprises also seize business opportunities from crises and difficulties by adjusting their development strategies in time, expanding markets and grasping orders. When the epidemic broke out, Gree Electric made emergency cross-border production of epidemic prevention materials such as masks to help the global fight against the epidemic.
After learning the news of cross-border production of epidemic prevention materials in Gree Electric, the Guangdong provincial tax authorities immediately used big data to help them get through all production links. The tax department of Zhuhai has specially established the "Gree Department" service WeChat group to provide real-time tax analysis suggestions to enterprises.
There are many examples of enterprise innovation and change under the new situation. As the representative of cross-border e-commerce in Hengqin, Cross-border Network Technology Co., Ltd. enjoys the unique advantages of Macao-China-Portugal platform. During the epidemic period, the company launched the "anti-epidemic plan-global collection of medical materials" to ensure the supply and sales of epidemic prevention materials.
In this process, the tax department of Hengqin New District of Zhuhai actively uses tax big data to bridge the gap between cross-border companies and hundreds of enterprises such as Hengqin Enterprise Park, and timely implement tax incentives for cross-border companies. "The efficient and meticulous service of the tax department allows us to fully enjoy policy support." Zhou Yunxian, head of Cross-border Network Technology Co., Ltd. said.
Policy support continues to increase. The the State Council Standing Committee held on April 7th decided to play a set of "combination boxing" to stabilize the basic foreign trade and foreign investment. Among them, the Canton Fair, as the weather vane of the national foreign trade industry, will be held online for the first time in June this year. According to the work arrangement, the Guangdong Provincial Taxation Bureau will "move" the tax publicity and counseling online at that time, and it is expected to provide publicity and counseling services for 25,000 exhibitors.
With the support of tax policies and tax authorities, a large number of Guangdong enterprises have launched a double upgrade of operation and management, which has accelerated the pace of Guangdong’s foreign trade stabilization and recovery. From the economic data in March, this positive trend has been reflected: in March, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size, investment in fixed assets and the decline of import and export in Guangdong Province narrowed by 18.5, 12.7 and 9.3 percentage points respectively compared with January and February.