Guangzhou Municipality, Accelerating the Development of the Software Industry Several Provisions

Issued: 23 March 2001
Effective: as of date of issue
Applicability: The Guangzhou Software Parks referred to in the Provisions are the Guangzhou Tianhe Software Park, the Guangdong Software Science Park and the Nansha Information Technology Park (Article 3).

Main contents: The municipal government will increase the budget allotment for infrastructure development in the Guangzhou Software Park (Article 4). The municipality's technical venture company will establish a venture capital organization in cooperation with domestic and foreign venture enterprises; at the same time, the municipality will strengthen and expand its loan underwriting facilities and encourage venture capital companies, especially those abroad, to invest in Guangzhou's software industry (Article 6). The municipal- and district-level finance bureaus will earmark funds to assist software enterprises (Article 7). Specifically, targeted enterprises will include those viewed as key projects that have not received preferential tax treatment (Item 1), enterprises registered in Guangzhou that have reinvested after-tax profit in research and development (Item 2), and enterprises or organizations that establish software research centres in Guangzhou (Item 3). From its first profit-earning year, a newly established software enterprise will enjoy a two-year exemption from corporate income tax, followed by a 50% exemption for three years (Article 8). Newly built or purchased research facilities in the Guangzhou Software Park or the Huanghuagang Information Park will be exempt from property tax and municipal land tax for five years, and the land-use grant premium will be calculated at 50% of the standard rate for industrial land (Article 11). Software enterprises can import necessary equipment, technology, software, parts and accessories (except those listed by related legislation as ineligible for tax exemption) free of customs tax and import value-added tax (Article 12). Software enterprises with a registered capital of at least one million yuan can engage in export and may apply for small- and medium-sized enterprise development grants and foreign-market development grants (Article 13). Staff wages and training costs can be deducted from pre-tax profits (Article 15). The Municipal Personnel Bureau will offer direct assistance to returning foreign students (Article 21).