China to expand water resource tax pilot program

Almaty. November 30. Silkroadnews - China will expand the pilot tax program for water resources use, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The Chinese Ministry of Finance says the country will expand a water resource tax pilot program to more areas, in a bid to encourage water conservation,” the report said.
According to the ministry, a new tax pilot project will start in nine provincial regions, including Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Sichuan and Ningxia next month.
Earlier, the pilot tax project trial was carried out in Hebei Province for 18 months.
“By expanding the pilot program, we can better enable the tax lever effects and discourage irrational water usage, thereby preserving water resources. The program will help to prefect the design of our water resource taxes and provide conducive conditions to fully implement the tax system,” the agency quoted Wang Jianfan, a staff member of the Ministry of Finance, saying.
Reportedly water resources tax is levied on the basis of use of surface and underground water.
“Water use above quotas or in over-exploited areas will be levied with heavier taxes, while that for agricultural purposes will see a reduction or exemption. The use of water that has come from sewage treatment facilities will also have favorable tax rates,” the report reads.