Qianhai Introduces Incentives to Attract High-End Foreign Talent

Jan. 30 – The Shenzhen Qianhai Administration Bureau released the “Interim Measures on Individual Income Tax Subsidies for Overseas High-End Talent” on December 24, 2012, which provides that high caliber foreign professionals working in major industries in Qianhai will receive subsidies from the Shenzhen government.

From January 1, 2013, high-end foreign professionals in short supply and working in Qianhai may, after being accredited by the Shenzhen Qianhai Administration Bureau, pay individual income tax capped at 15 percent for their wages and salaries. There is no upper limit on the number of individuals qualified for these favorable conditions. Where the individual income tax on wages and salaries for such professionals exceeds 15 percent of the taxable income, the Shenzhen government will subsidize the exceeding portion.

In response, the “Regulation on Identifying Overseas High-End Talent and Professionals in Short Supply in Qianhai” has been released by the Shenzhen Qianhai Administration Bureau on December 29, 2012, which sets the following standards for an individual to be accredited as an “overseas high-end talent or professional in short supply in Qianhai.”

Specifically, the individual shall fall under one of the following categories:

• A person with foreign nationality
• A resident in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan
• An overseas Chinese who has obtained the right of long-term residence overseas
• A returned overseas student

Furthermore, the following stipulations apply:

• The company or institution established by the individual or where the individual works should belong to the financial, modern logistics, information services, technology service or other specialized service sectors
• The individual has started a business in Qianhai or works in a company or institution that is registered in Qianhai
• The individual pays individual income tax in Qianhai according to relevant laws

Recently, the Nansha-Qianhai-Hengqin Zone has been approved by the central government as a model zone to pilot the country’s professional management industry. By 2015, the zone will boast about 100,000 international high-end professionals in the modern service industries and more than 50,000 of them will be located in the Qianhai area.

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