Caixin published a piece yesterday on the tug and pull between conservation and development in Yunnan, and more specifically, of Kunming's Dianchi.

"Southwest China' s scenic Yunnan province has intensified efforts to protect its many lakes, demolishing hundreds of illegally constructed buildings in the process. But demand for development and corruption are hurdles to conservation:"

www.caixinglobal.com/[...]

Just published on SCMP titled: "China’s expat tax system: who pays and how does it work?"

- "Recent plans by Beijing to reform tax exemptions on expatriate employee allowances have thrown the spotlight on China’s tax regime for foreigners"

Link:

www.scmp.com/[...]

"Who needs to pay individual income tax in China?

Chinese law stipulates that individuals who are domiciled in the mainland, or live in the country for a total of 183 days in a tax year, will be categorised as tax residents. However, only after staying in the country for six straight years, without exiting for more than 30 days, will global income be taxed.

Non-residents pay taxes only on the income earned in China.

What kind of income is taxed in China?

The IIT levy is applicable to people earning wages, salaries, pay for authors or personal services, plus income from royalties, business operations, interest, dividends and bonuses. Revenue from property leasing or transactions, as well as contingent income, is also taxed."

7-tier individual income tax rate bracket chart and municipal level tax break info for expats also mentioned in the above article published one hour ago.

"... amid pressure from foreign businesses, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration announced in late December the tax breaks will be extended for two more years.

Meanwhile, year-end bonuses will not be included solely in the month they are offered, but split evenly across 12 months, before 2024. Equity incentives offered by listed companies will be taxed separately until the end of this year."

More details in the piece. I'm not going to copy and paste the whole thing.

Also, the suspension of tours has been lifted for most cities in Yunnan. Welcoming news for a portion of the local economy.

Good news. Kunming's tracking/tracing code back to normal from previous elevated medium-high risk status.

Data from the NHC shows the Mainland province with the most number of days in 2021 with reported local symptomatic covid cases is none other than Yunnan (with 92 days).

Followed by Heilongjiang, Hebei, and Bejing.

Graphic chart ranking of all provinces compiled by Reuters:

www.reuters.com/[...]

The steady influx of imported cases as a bordering SW province to various neighbors, particularly the one across Ruili, is probably the main contributor for Yunnan.