China to strengthen digital taxation, global tax cooperation

BEIJING -- China will step up efforts to advance the intelligent upgrade of taxation, and contribute to global cooperation in the sector, an official said.

China has outlined its road map to establish intelligent taxation in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Wang Jun, head of the State Taxation Administration, said at the opening ceremony of the second conference of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum (BRITACOF) on Tuesday.

Wang, also the first chair of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Mechanism (BRITACOM) Council, noted the use of e-invoices and big data technology in the digitalization of taxation.

The BRITACOM is a non-profit official mechanism for tax administration cooperation amongst the jurisdictions that subscribe to the Belt and Road Initiative, aiming to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation in member countries by strengthening tax administration cooperation.

Under joint efforts, the BRITACOM has seen a continued expansion since it was set up two years ago, Wang said. Now it consists of 36 council member tax administrations and 30 observers.

To get on board the digitalization of taxation, China has been working on promoting the application of new technologies, according to Wang.

Looking ahead, Wang called for more international exchanges, training courses, and a global cooperation mechanism to boost information-based taxation.

Themed "Digitalization of Tax Administration", the three-day conference has attracted representatives of 61 countries and regions such as Kazakhstan, Russia, United Arab Emirates and 12 international organizations.

The first conference of BRITACOF was convened in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province in April, 2019.