The State Council issued a reform plan for the mineral resources royalty system

　　According to the Chinese government website's announcement on April 20, to implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, better utilize the mineral resources tax system's important role in safeguarding national interests, regulating resource income, and raising fiscal revenue, and to promote the modernization of the national governance system and capacity in the field of ecological civilization, the following plan for the reform of the mineral resources equity gold system is formulated.

　　 I. Overall Requirements

　　(1) Guiding Ideology. Fully implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Plenary Sessions of the 18th Central Committee, thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important speeches and the new concepts, ideas, and strategies for governing the country, earnestly implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, comprehensively promote the overall layout of "five in one" and coordinate the advancement of the "four comprehensives" strategic layout, adhere to the general tone of work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, firmly establish and implement the new development concept, adapt to, grasp, and lead the new normal of economic development, in accordance with the requirements of the "Overall Plan for Ecological Civilization System Reform", adhere to the main line of promoting supply-side structural reform, focus on maintaining and realizing national mineral resource rights and interests, aim at creating a fair competitive environment for the mining industry, and establish a new mineral resource equity gold system that suits China's characteristics.

　　(2) Basic Principles. First, adhere to safeguarding national mineral resource rights and interests, improve the mineral resources tax system, promote competitive bidding for mining rights, create a fair competitive market environment, reasonably regulate mineral resource income, and effectively curb illegal mining and the sale of resources at low prices. Second, adhere to implementing the responsibilities of mining enterprises, urge enterprises to efficiently utilize resources and manage and restore the environment, promote the intensive and economical use of resources, and at the same time, in accordance with the requirements of the "delegation, regulation, and service" reform, strengthen mid- and post-event supervision and maintain the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. Third, adhere to maintaining the stable financial situation of the central and local governments, taking into account both state ownership of mineral resources and the interests of mineral-producing areas, and reasonably determining the distribution ratio of central and local mineral resource income.

　　 II. Main Measures

　　(1) In the stage of mining rights transfer, the price of exploration and mining rights will be adjusted to mining rights transfer income. The current exploration and mining rights price, which only charges for state-funded explored mineral deposits and reflects the return on state investment, will be adjusted to mining rights transfer income applicable to all state-granted mining rights and reflecting the rights and interests of the state owner. For those transferred through auction or bidding, the winning bidder's bid price will be the mining rights transfer income; for those transferred through bidding, the winning bidder will be determined comprehensively based on the bidding conditions, and their bid price will be determined as the mining rights transfer income. For those transferred through agreement, the mining rights transfer income will be determined based on the assessed value and the market benchmark price under similar conditions. The mining rights transfer income will be determined once at the time of transfer, paid in the form of currency funds, and can be paid in installments. The specific collection methods will be formulated separately by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Land and Resources. At the same time, accelerate the reform of the mining rights transfer system to achieve organic integration with the mineral resources equity gold system. Fully implement competitive bidding for mining rights, strictly restrict agreement transfers, and reasonably adjust the approval authority for mining rights.

　　The central and local sharing ratio of mining rights transfer income is determined as 4:6, taking into account both state ownership of mineral resources and the interests of mineral-producing areas, maintaining the overall stability of the existing central and local financial situation, adapting to the national conditions where China's mineral resources are mainly concentrated in the central and western regions, and effectively curbing illegal mining and the sale of resources at low prices.

　　(2) In the stage of mining rights occupation, the exploration and mining rights usage fee will be integrated into the mining rights occupation fee. The current exploration and mining rights usage fee, which is mainly levied annually based on the occupied area and unit area, will be integrated into a mining rights occupation fee that will be dynamically adjusted based on changes in mineral product prices and economic development needs, effectively preventing "land grabbing" and "encirclement without exploration" in the mining rights market, and improving the efficiency of mineral resource utilization.

　　The central and local sharing ratio of mining rights occupation fees is determined as 2:8, and the method of levying exploration and mining rights usage fees according to the level of the registration agency will no longer be implemented. Specific methods will be formulated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Land and Resources.

　　(3) In the stage of mineral mining, organize and implement resource tax reform. Implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, do a good job in organizing and implementing resource tax reform, implement ad valorem taxation for the vast majority of mineral resource items, link resource tax to resource prices that reflect market supply and demand, establish an automatic tax adjustment mechanism, and enhance tax elasticity. At the same time, in accordance with the principle of clearing fees and establishing taxes, the mineral resource compensation fee will be merged into the resource tax, illegal fees and funds will be abolished, the situation of repeated taxes and fees and overlapping functions will be changed, and the relationship between taxes and fees will be standardized.

　　(4) In the stage of mine environmental governance and restoration, the mine environmental governance and restoration security deposit will be adjusted to the mine environmental governance and restoration fund. In accordance with the requirements of the "delegation, regulation, and service" reform, the current mine environmental governance and restoration security deposit, which has inconsistent management methods and complex approval procedures, will be adjusted to a mine environmental governance and restoration fund with standardized management, unified responsibilities and powers, and convenient use. Mining enterprises will set up separate accounting accounts, accrue a certain percentage of sales revenue, include it in enterprise costs, and use it comprehensively for mine environmental protection and comprehensive governance. Relevant departments will strengthen mid- and post-event supervision according to their respective responsibilities, establish a dynamic supervision mechanism, and urge enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities for mine environmental governance and restoration.

　　 III. Supporting Policies

　　(1) Mining rights transfer income and mining rights occupation fees will be included in the general public budget management, and in accordance with the Mineral Resources Law, Property Law, Budget Law, and the "Notice of the State Council on Issuing the Plan for Promoting the Integrated Use of Fiscal Funds" (Guo Fa [2015] No. 35), etc., will be used comprehensively by all levels of finance for expenditures such as geological surveys and mine ecological protection and restoration.

　　(2) Cancel the policy of transferring the exploration and mining rights price of state-owned geological exploration units to state capital gold, create a fair competitive market environment, safeguard national mineral resource rights and interests, and promote the accelerated transformation of state-owned geological exploration units to achieve market-oriented operation. The exploration and mining rights price that has already been transferred to state capital gold does not need to be supplemented, and enterprises with state investment will fulfill their responsibilities for preserving and increasing the value of state-owned capital and accept supervision from institutions that perform the responsibilities of state-owned asset investors.

　　(3) Establish and improve the credit constraint mechanism for mining rights holders. Establish an information disclosure system for mining rights holders, mainly characterized by enterprise disclosure, social supervision, government spot checks, and industry self-discipline, include mine environmental governance and restoration and land reclamation plans, and mineral resource tax payment situations in the disclosed content, set up an illegal "blacklist", and form a governance pattern of coordinated government departments, industry organization self-discipline management, active participation of credit service institutions, and extensive social supervision.

　　 IV. Organization and Implementation

　　All regions and relevant departments should fully understand the importance and urgency of the reform of the mineral resources equity gold system, and in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further strengthen the organizational leadership of the reform work. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Land and Resources should take the lead in establishing an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism for the reform of the mineral resources equity gold system, strengthen overall coordination, clarify responsibilities, and work with relevant departments to formulate specific management methods for the collection and use of mineral resources equity gold, and properly handle the transition between the old and new policies. Provincial governments should effectively assume the main responsibility for organizing and promoting the reform of the mineral resources equity gold system in their respective regions and steadily promote various reforms. All regions and relevant departments should strengthen the inspection and guidance of the reform work, promptly discover and solve problems, ensure the smooth implementation of the reform of the mineral resources equity gold system, and promptly report major situations to the Party Central Committee and the State Council.