Tax Exemption

China will exempt offshore service outsourcing firms in 21 cities from business taxes from July 1, 2010 until December 31, 2013 to boost the industry's development, said the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) jointly issued the notice on August 11.

Firms specializing in information technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing in 21 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian in Liaoning Province and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, will be eligible for operating tax exemption, said the notice.

China is currently the world's second largest outsourcing market of such services, after India. The country inked outsourcing contracts worth up to $20 billion in 2009, up 185.6 percent, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Price Transparency

China's banking regulator is in the process of revising the bank service pricing regulation with an eye on providing bank customers better services.

A draft of the revised regulation has been sent to China's commercial banks and local price monitoring offices, said the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

The revision was introduced to prevent banks from raising fees for any banking service at will. Last month, several Chinese commercial banks, such as China's largest lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, raised their cross-bank same-city automatic teller machine (ATM) withdrawal fees, which invited wide opposition among bankcard holders.

Any changes in service pricing should be announced five months before its implementation, and if customers object, the bank should stop the change, being it overtly or in a disguised form, said the draft.

The draft of the new regulation will be open for public discussion after commercial banks submit their feedback, said the CBRC.

Green Expo

The China International Green Industry Expo 2010 will be held from November 24 to 27 in Beijing to boost exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries in green industries and the green economy, said the MOFCOM on August 11.

A total of 12 ministries, including the MOFCOM, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will jointly host the expo.

Organizers will invite select companies in green businesses—with focus on clean energy, energy conservation and emission-reduction, environmental protection and low-carbon technologies—to exhibit their technologies and products at the expo free of charge. A forum will also be open to opinions on industrial solutions to cope with global climate change.

Jet Purchase

Shenzhen Airlines, a subsidiary of China's largest carrier, Air China, inked a deal to buy 10 A-320 jets from Airbus.

The new jets are expected to improve the company's Airbus flagship structure and reduce its aircraft maintenance costs, said Shenzhen Airlines.

The new jets will be delivered between 2012 and 2013, increasing the company's Airbus fleet to 64. With 109 airplanes at present, the company said it aims to expand its total jet fleet to 180 by the end of 2015.