In 2023, China will intensify fiscal macroeconomic regulation and control, implement a proactive fiscal policy, and promote the economic recovery. Fiscal revenue maintained a restorative growth trend throughout the year, fiscal expenditure continued to increase, and the effectiveness of policies such as tax and fee reductions and special bonds was fully utilized.
The operation of revenue and expenditure is stable and orderly
Statistics show that in 2023, the national general public budget revenue will exceed 21 trillion yuan, an increase of 64%。In terms of localities, the income of the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions increased respectively7% and 12%, and all 31 provinces across the country achieved positive growth in fiscal revenue. Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, said that benefiting from the economic rebound, coupled with the implementation of large-scale VAT refund in 2022 and lowering the base, fiscal revenue will show a recovery growth in 2023.
At the same time, fiscal spending continued to strengthen. At the beginning of 2023, the fiscal deficit ratio is set at 3%. In order to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and improve disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities, an additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds were issued in the fourth quarter, all of which were arranged to local governments through transfer payments.
According to the data, the national general public budget expenditure in 2023 is 2746 trillion yuan, an increase of 54%。Strong safeguards in key areas, with spending on social security and employment increasing by 89 percent, and spending on education increased by 4 percent5%, and technology spending grew by 79%。
The formation of the national laboratory system has been accelerated, the layout and construction of large scientific facilities have been accelerated, the successful launch of Shenzhou 17, the commercial flight of the C919 large aircraft, and a large number ......of innovative achievements in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biomanufacturing and other fields have emerged one after anotherBehind these achievements, policy support and financial guarantee are inseparable.
In recent years, the state finance has given priority to science and technology as a key area of fiscal expenditure. Wang Dongwei introduced that from 2018 to 2023, fiscal science and technology expenditure increased from 832.7 billion yuan to 1,056.7 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 64%。At the same time, the financial sector comprehensively uses policy tools such as tax incentives, procurement, asset management, and finance to vigorously support scientific and technological innovation.
In 2023, the Ministry of Finance will continue to take ensuring national food security as the top priority of the fiscal policy to support agriculture, providing strong and effective support for the national grain output to hit a record high. Li Xianzhong, director of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, introduced that on the one hand, optimize the policy supply around the foundation of food security, optimize and adjust the best agriculture-related transfer payment policies, and effectively play the role of the main channel of financial funds, and constantly improve the "trinity" policy system of **, subsidies and insurance. On the other hand, financial support should be strengthened around key nodes of grain production.
The role of macroeconomic regulation and control is obvious
Fiscal policy is an important means of macroeconomic regulation and control, among which tax and fee reductions, special bonds and other tools play a prominent role.
In 2023, the tax and fee reduction policies will continue to be optimized and improved. Wang Jianfan, director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, said, "We have coordinated the needs of helping enterprises to bail out and the affordability of finance, further highlighting the forward-looking, continuous and accurate, and the continuation and optimization of the expired preferential tax policies." At the same time, we will focus on specific areas and key links, accurately implement a number of new preferential tax and fee policies, support the development of enterprises in a down-to-earth manner, and promote the continuous recovery of the national economy and the overall recovery."
Specifically, on the one hand, more than 70 expired preferential tax policies will be continued and optimized in batches. At the beginning of the year, it was clear that some of the due preferential tax policies were extended and optimized, and in the second half of the year, according to the changes in the economic situation, a number of expired preferential tax policies were extended, optimized and improved, and most of the policies were directly extended to the end of 2027. Support the stabilization of foreign trade, foreign investment and the healthy development of the capital market.
On the other hand, we will focus on specific areas and key links, and accurately implement new preferential tax policies. For example, the implementation of the advanced manufacturing value-added tax deduction policy to support the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry; Increase the proportion of R&D expenses deducted by integrated circuit and industrial machine tool enterprises, and enhance the ability of scientific and technological innovation. In addition, the special additional deduction standards for individual income tax for infant care under the age of 3, children's education, and support for the elderly will be raised to further reduce the burden of family childbirth and support for the elderly; Preferential tax treatment will be given to the construction and transaction of affordable housing projects to support the protection and improvement of people's livelihood.
Statistics show that in 2023, there will be more than 2 new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax refunds and deferrals nationwide2 trillion yuan. From the perspective of industries, the manufacturing industry and related wholesale and retail industries added nearly 950 billion yuan in tax reductions, fee reductions and tax refunds and deferrals, accounting for 42% of the total scale6%, which is the industry with the highest proportion of tax incentives. From the perspective of enterprise scale, the scale of new tax and fee reductions and tax refunds and deferrals for small, medium and micro enterprises is about 143 trillion yuan, accounting for 64%, the most obvious benefit.
At the same time, the effectiveness of the special bond policy has been further exerted. In 2023, the scale of local ** special bonds will be 38 trillion yuan, giving priority to supporting projects with a relatively high degree of maturity and projects under construction, focusing on key points, expanding the investment areas of special bonds to 11, and expanding the scope of special bonds to be used as project capital to 15 aspects.
In addition, the bottom line of risk prevention has been further strengthened. On the one hand, for local debts, we have promoted the formulation of a package of debt plans, and paid close attention to the risk resolution of local hidden debts, so as to resolve the stock and curb the increase. On the other hand, we will increase transfer payments to local governments, and the scale of transfer payments will reach 1029 trillion yuan.
Continuously strengthen policy supply
The basic trend of China's economic rebound and long-term improvement has not changed. **The Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to strengthen the counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustment of macroeconomic policies, and the active fiscal policy should be moderately strengthened, and the quality and efficiency should be improved.
Moderate afterburner is mainly reflected in four aspects: maintaining appropriate expenditure intensity and releasing positive signals; Reasonably arrange the scale of investment and give full play to the amplification effect of investment; increase the intensity of balanced transfer payments, and strengthen the bottom line of the "three guarantees" at the grassroots level; Optimize and adjust tax and fee policies to improve the accuracy, pertinence and effectiveness of policies.
Improving quality and efficiency requires efforts in six aspects: implementing the requirements of living a tight life, optimizing the structure of fiscal expenditure, strengthening performance management, strictly enforcing financial discipline, enhancing fiscal sustainability, and strengthening policy coordination, and vigorously promote the scientific, standardized, standardized, and legalized financial management.
In the process of implementing a proactive fiscal policy, we will continue to implement the structural tax and fee reduction policies, maintain the continuity and stability of the policies, enhance the precision and pertinence of the policies, focus on supporting the development of scientific and technological innovation and manufacturing, strengthen policy supply, and promote the economy to achieve effective qualitative and quantitative growth.
At the same time, we will further give full play to the role of special bonds in stimulating effective investment. It is reported that in December 2023, after the Ministry of Finance fulfilled the approval procedures in accordance with the law, it has issued part of the new local ** debt limit for 2024 to all localities in advance to support the construction of major projects, promote the formation of physical workload, and give full play to the role of local ** bonds in stimulating the economy.
Wang Dongwei said that in the next step, the Ministry of Finance will adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, establishing first and then breaking down, coordinating the expansion of domestic demand and supply-side structural reform, coordinating new urbanization and promoting comprehensive rural revitalization, coordinating high-quality development and high-level security, increasing fiscal macro-control, implementing positive fiscal policies, and consolidating and enhancing the positive trend of economic recovery.