Although considerable information about China's tax policies on foreign investment have been made available in the West, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive treatment of China's domestic system of taxation. It offers an authoritative analysis of each type of taxation and the tax system as a whole, within the broader context of the nation's economic and fiscal structure. Written by one of the foremost authorities on the subject, it benefits from the author's access to important Chinese materials as well as personal contacts with Chinese government officials and Western lawyers and businessmen working in China.

Tracing the evolution of taxation in China from the early feudal period to the present, the author reviews the long history of various forms of taxation, some of which have been in existence for thousands of years. Jinyan Li next looks at the use of taxation as an instrument of the socialist economy in the years immediately following the Communist revolution, during the period of closed central planning, and in the recent movement toward an open market economy. Current tax policy is analyzed in six chapters, each dealing with a specific form of taxation. Throughout the book, the author explores the relationship of tax policy to other aspects of the Chinese economy, including economic planning, price and wage policies, the state budget and financial system, and government policies regarding property ownership and private enterprise. This book will be an important information source for scholars, students, and tax lawyers concerned with socialist fiscal policy and China's current economic reforms.