Commentators have been assessing whether recent central and local government announcements are indicative of a broader-based stimulus effort than those previously seen so far this year.

Commentators discuss the implications of a proposed expansion of business VAT reform to a number of new sectors, including telecoms and real estate.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) announced today that it plans to raise the share of the profits that China’s state-owned enterprises (SoEs) transfer to the central government to as much as 30% by 2020 from the current 5% to 20%. We think this reform, seen as a bellwether for the strength of Beijing’s intentions to reform SoEs, adds more evidence to interpretations that the third plenum was as a landmark in China’s reform process.

China plans to levy a consumption tax on more luxury goods, as well as on products that cause severe environmental pollution and waste resources, Lou Jiwei, finance minister, was quoted as saying today. We think the announcement, made after a meeting of top legislators, reinforces the sense that key reform initiatives are gaining momentum ahead of a key Communist Party meeting set for November (Update Alert, Aug 27).

China’s media is buzzing with reform plans, proposals and ideas ahead of a key Communist Party meeting in October. Here are some likely outcomes.

China is ramping up momentum for a series of economic reforms to be unveiled at a key Communist Party meeting expected in October, government officials and domestic media reports say. We think the moves, which are taking place largely behind the scenes, present the strongest signal yet that President Xi Jinping’s leadership may yet emerge as a more reformist and purposeful administration than that of Hu Jintao over the last decade (CC Dec 20 2012 Macro View).

Experts assess the causes and implications of weak tax revenue growth during the first quarter of the year

The roll-out of China’s welfare state is gathering pace, providing stronger underpinnings for discretionary consumer spending in years to come, our survey finds.