New Policy of Paper Packaging Industry in China, 2023

New Policy of Paper Packaging Industry in China,  2023

According to a market research report on the printing and packaging industry, the global market size reached 2,481.763 billion yuan (RMB) in 2021, with the Chinese market size reaching 724.675 billion yuan. The report predicts that the global packaging printing market will reach 3,257.061 billion yuan by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.65% during the forecast period.

As an important part of packaging decoration and printing, the paper packaging and printing industry has advantages such as easy processing, low cost, printability, environmental friendliness, and recyclability. It is the most widely used type of packaging in the market, accounting for about one-third of the overall output value of the packaging printing industry.

Starting from 2023, a series of policies, standards, and plans related to the printing and packaging industry will be implemented, which may impact and change the development of the entire industry. Printing and packaging companies should understand and pay attention to these policies, adapt to the trends of the times, and collectively promote the high-quality development of the printing industry. To this end, we have summarized these policies.

New Policies:

1. VAT Exemption for Small-scale Taxpayers:

The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration released a policy announcement on January 9, 2023, clarifying the exemption of value-added tax for small-scale taxpayers. From January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, small-scale taxpayers with monthly sales of less than 1 million yuan (including this amount) are exempt from value-added tax. The value-added tax that should be exempted can be deducted from the tax payable by the taxpayer or refunded if it has been collected before the announcement. It is worth mentioning that the majority of printing and packaging enterprises in China are small-scale enterprises, and this policy is undoubtedly a major benefit for these small-scale businesses.

2. Zero Tariffs for Imported Paper:

On December 28, 2022, the State Council Tariff Commission announced the tariff adjustment plan for 2023, implementing zero tariffs for several paper categories. Starting from January 1, 2023, China will impose a provisional import tariff rate below the most-favored-nation rate on 1,020 commodities, including double-sided adhesive paper, copperplate paper, white cardboard, recycled box board, and corrugated raw paper within the paper category. However, this tariff adjustment does not cover cowhide box board and newsprint products.

3. Exemption for Printing Enterprises in Environmental Regulation:

On December 1, 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Management Measures for the List of Key Environmental Regulation Units." Starting from January 1, 2023, packaging and printing enterprises above a certain scale that use ink with low volatile organic compound content as specified by the national regulations will be exempted from being listed as key atmospheric pollution units. In other words, packaging and printing enterprises that use low VOCs content ink will be exempted from being listed as key atmospheric pollution units.

4. New "National Printing Demonstrative Enterprise Management Measures":

On January 10, 2023, the National Press and Publication Administration published the "National Printing Demonstrative Enterprise Management Measures." The "Management Measures" identify four categories of national printing demonstrative enterprises: support and support category, innovation and leading category, intelligent manufacturing category, and professional characteristics category. The National Press and Publication Administration will organize the review and identification of national printing demonstrative enterprises every two years.

5. Implementation of the 2022 edition of the "Catalog for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries": Starting from January 1, 2023, the 2022 edition of the "Catalog for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries" will be implemented. The National Development and Reform Commission stated that the main changes in the new edition of the Catalog include continuous encouragement of foreign investment