China Updates- Intellectual Property/ Social Security

IP
SIPO (the State Intellectual Property Office of China) has introduced some new guidelines on patents, effective 1^st of April, 2017. The main changes, very broadly speaking, are to extent the scope of patentability. One of the more general relaxations is to increase the range and scope of documents available for public inspection.

Social Security
A mutual arrangement between China and Finland was announced regarding exemptions for citizens of each country from certain social security deductions in the other party’s jurisdiction.

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Primasia will post the updates of Hong Kong and China from time to time. Follow us on our Website/ Blogger/ LinkedIn and stay tunned for our updates!

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Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

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Follow us on:

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LinkedIn: Primasia

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Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Updates- Salary Costs/ Employment

Salary costs

According the Hong Kong’s Census & Statistics Department, December's average wage rate grew 3.6% in nominal terms over a year earlier. Two thirds of companies reported giving salary increases, while 30% decreased salaries. 3% made no change. The overall salary rate rose 2.5% in real terms (after discounting for the main consumer price index).

Employment

There is a proposal to remove the right of employers to offset their contributions to an employee’s Mandatory Provident Fund against long service or severance payments. If and when this proposal is implemented; firstly, the change will not be of retrospective (before the implementation date) effect; secondly, the rate of severance and long service payments will be reduced from 2/3 to ½ of the monthly salary; and thirdly, the government will foot part of the employer’s extra costs.

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Primasia will post the updates of Hong Kong and China from time to time. Follow us on our Website/ Blogger/ LinkedIn and stay tunned for our updates!

===================================================================

Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

--------------------------

Follow us on:

Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China

LinkedIn: Primasia

--------------------------

Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Record Expenses On The Go

You can easily record your expenses on the go with Xero. No more headaches caused by keeping track of your receipts! Talk to us today to know more about it!

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Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

--------------------------

Follow us on:

Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China

LinkedIn: Primasia

--------------------------

Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

China Updates- Tax

Tax
On March 5^th, at the fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), Premier Li Keqiang spoke on the Chinese government’s plans for the next year (in addition to reviewing the achievements of the previous year). The main fiscal tasks for 2017 include:

1. simplifying the VAT rate categories,
2. increasing the percentage of  R&D expenses’ “super deduction” for Corporate Income Tax (CIT) for SMEs,
3. lowering the level at which qualified small and thin-profit enterprises qualify for CIT preferential treatments,
4. continuing to standardise and eliminate the “non-tax [i.e. administrative] burden” of SMEs.   

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Primasia will post the updates of Hong Kong and China from time to time. Follow us on our Website/ Blogger/ LinkedIn and stay tunned for our updates!

===================================================================

Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

--------------------------

Follow us on:

Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China

LinkedIn: Primasia

--------------------------

Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Great news – Primasia Corporate Services Limited is now a Xero Bronze Partner Primasia is proud to announce that we are an official Xero Bronze Partner. We aim at making it easier for you to manage your business finances with Xero. What is Xero ? Xero is an easy to use but powerful online accounting software that's designed specifically for small business Xero provides a view of financial information in real time Xero has a full suite of accounting features such as invoicing, payables, expense claims, reporting and much more No installation, no manual backups and maintenance, no additional software. All updates and new features are available to you when you next login. Privacy and security of your data is taken care of and is stored on Xero's secure servers. With Xero, you can: invite a number of trusted people such as ourselves to collaborate online and manage your accounts check your bills, issue invoices, see all business data anytime whenever and wherever your connect to the internet tailor-make financial reports   What is Virtual CFO ? Commentary & feedback on financial performance Update income and expenditure projections and cashflow monitoring Ongoing communication with management on financial performance and improvement opportunities Virtual CFO is more than bookkeeping services. What can we do for you? As a Xero Bronze Partner we are able to offer a full range of services from monthly/ quarterly/yearly bookkeeping to Virtual CFO, our team can act as your outsourced financial function in Hong Kong. We are offering free demonstrations and trials of Xero to our clients this month. For more information please call us and we’ll arrange a suitable time. ================================================================= Need more information? Please contact: John Barclay -Email Teresa Tam - Email  -------------------------- Follow us on: Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China LinkedIn: Primasia -------------------------- Primasia Corporate Services Limited Tel: +852 2882 2088 Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Updates- Employment

Employment
The District Court in Hong Kong held that it was discriminatory to require an employee to take a pregnancy test and to inform the employer of the result.

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Primasia will post the updates of Hong Kong and China from time to time. Follow us on our Website/ Blogger/ LinkedIn and stay tunned for our updates!

===================================================================

Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

--------------------------

Follow us on:

Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China

LinkedIn: Primasia

--------------------------

Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

The Primasia Carvery Evening 2017

Our Annual Carvery Event was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) on 28^th February. 

We had a fabulous evening with around 200 professionals attending from different industries. Hope to see you all next year﹗

===================================================================

Need more information?

Please contact:

John Barclay -Email

Teresa Tam - Email 

--------------------------

Follow us on:

Website: Primasia HK / Primasia China

LinkedIn: Primasia

--------------------------

Primasia Corporate Services Limited

Tel: +852 2882 2088

Suite 1106-08, 11/F., Tai Yau Building, No. 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong