Micro-economic operation through VAT invoice data

State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China press conference site (photo by Su Yu)

The value-added tax invoice data with a wide penetration is a window to observe the production and operation of market players. According to the data released by State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China on May 28th, in April this year, the sales revenue of national enterprises increased by 12.9% on average for two years, which continued a steady and positive trend.

On the whole, in April this year, the sales revenue of Chinese enterprises continued to grow steadily, the industrial economy continued to recover, consumption and investment steadily improved, and the recovery growth trend of the national economy continued to strengthen.

Zhao Lianwei, deputy director of the Revenue Planning and Accounting Department of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China, said: "The VAT invoice data shows that in April, the sales revenue of national enterprises increased by 24.6% year-on-year, 27.5% over the same period of 2019, and the average growth rate in two years was 12.9%, continuing the steady and good trend since the second half of last year."

In terms of industrial enterprises, the sales revenue of industrial enterprises increased by an average of 10.1% in two years, reflecting the steady recovery of the industrial economy. Zhao Lianwei said: "Among the 41 major industries, 38 industries have achieved positive growth on average in two years, and 16 industries have achieved an average growth rate of more than 10% in two years."

In the wholesale and retail industry, the sales revenue of the wholesale and retail industry increased by 12.3% on average in two years, one of which is the rapid growth of upgrading consumption. "VAT invoice data shows that in April, the national wholesale and retail sales revenue increased by 26.2% year-on-year, an increase of 26.1% over the same period in 2019, and an average increase of 12.3% in two years. Among them, the consumption of upgrades has grown rapidly, and the retail sales of watches, health care equipment, photographic equipment and nutrition and health products have increased by 21.6%, 46.7%, 9.4% and 25% respectively in two years. " Zhao Lianwei said.

In the construction industry, the sales revenue of the construction industry increased by an average of 14.5% in two years, and the construction of new infrastructure was accelerated. According to the data of VAT invoices, from January to April this year, the sales revenue of the national construction industry increased by 39.6% year-on-year, by 31.1% compared with the same period in 2019, with an average increase of 14.5% in two years, reflecting the continued recovery of investment. The investment structure was gradually optimized, and investment in new infrastructure increased.

In addition, State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China also released the relevant data of newly established tax-related market entities. "Newly established" means that they have gone through the relevant procedures for the registration of market entities, and "tax-related" means that certain production and business activities have taken place. The data shows that thanks to the continuous release of a series of policy dividends, such as tax reduction and fee reduction, "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, and optimization of business environment, in April, there were 1.336 million new tax-related market entities, an increase of 5.1% compared with March, an increase of 21% and 20.3% respectively compared with the same period in 2020 and 2019, with an average increase of 9.7% in two years.

In terms of types, the number of newly-established individual industrial and commercial households reached 621,000, which is about half of the total number of newly-established businesses. The executive meeting of the State Council made it clear that we should continue to provide targeted support to small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, including implementing tax reduction and fee reduction measures and helping them cope with the impact of rising prices of raw materials.