By then, investment in foreign trade, tourism, retailing, consultancy, transportation, and some other service sectors will also be permitted, according to the announcement.

Furthermore, in a bid to achieve the goal that the contracted foreign capital in the province and the capital actually used by the end of the "10th Five-year Plan" will double that of the past five years, Yunnan will offer more preferential policies on tax collection and land-use to foreign investment.

The foreign invested enterprises engaging in industries encouraged by the State will enjoy a cut of 15-percent of enterprises income taxes in Yunnan within a certain period. Enterprises run by ethnic autonomous units, upon the approval of the provincial government, will have their enterprises income taxes cut or exempted regularly. Newly founded enterprises of communications, electric power, water conservancy, post, radio and video, etc. will be exempted from taxes within two years and have their taxes halved in the third year. To protect the eco-environment and encourage the return of land to forest or grassland taxes will be exempted within 10 years on the produces harvested from the agriculture and pastureland. The land-use for the purpose of construction of national and provincial highways will be free from taxes. Moreover, for industries and foreign invested sectors encouraged by the State as well as industrial projects of superiority, to import equipment of advanced technology for their own use will be exempted from tariff and VAT except for commodities absent from duty-free treatment as stipulated by the State.

(People's Daily 06/04/2001)