An aerial view of Yongxing Island, home to the government of Sansha, China's southernmost city. [Photo/Xinhua] Resolution sought after agency moved under Armed Police Force National lawmakers on Friday passed a resolution specifying the authority and responsibilities of the newly reshuffled China Coast Guard. The resolution, which serves as the legal basis for the Coast Guard, makes it clear that the force is tasked with cracking down on illegal activities at sea, safeguarding security and order of maritime operations, protecting the marine environment and ecosystems, regulating the fishing industry, and coordinating and training local governments' maritime law enforcement. It also lists responsibilities mentioned in current laws that now belong to multiple government departments but will be assigned to the Coast Guard. The resolution was adopted at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature. General Wang Ning, commander of the Armed Police Force, said that existing rules on the Coast Guard's powers and responsibilities have become outdated. They need to be modified for the force to carry out maritime law enforcement operations with the move from the former State Oceanic Administration to the Armed Police Force, he said. The Coast Guard now has new command systems, operational mechanisms and coordination patterns, he said, while briefing the legislators about the draft resolution on Tuesday. In addition, some clauses in current laws and regulations pertaining to the Coast Guard have become inconsistent with the force's new status and missions, so amendments are necessary, he said. Amending multiple laws, however, usually takes a long time. Timely passage of a specific resolution on the Coast Guard's new authority and responsibilities was needed to grant a legal basis for the new force's operations, Wang said. The Coast Guard was established in July 2013 as a result of a government reorganization, merging several organs administered by separate government departments that independently conducted law enforcement operations on the sea, such as the maritime police under the public security authorities and anti-smuggling police under the General Administration of Customs. It was affiliated with the State Oceanic Administration but also took guidance and instructions from the Ministry of Public Security. In March, the central leadership issued a massive reform plan of many bodies of the Communist Party of China and the central government, which included the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Armed Police Force. The Coast Guard is now undertaking a host of reform measures arranged by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Wang said. The Armed Police Force itself was placed under the unified control of the CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission as of January. Under the new command chain, Armed Police units take orders directly from the force's headquarters, which, likewise, follows directives from the Central Military Commission instead of instructions from both the commission and the State Council. Cao Yin contributed to this story. wristband commental health wristbandcustom sweatbands no minimumcustom fidget spinners24 hour wristbandsslap wristbandsadjustable wristbands
BEIJING - Taxation will play a larger role in China's drive to conserve more water as a water resource tax program is expanded. Starting Friday, nine provincial regions, including Beijing, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia will begin using a new water resource tax, following trials in north China's Hebei Province. Water conservation is important in a nation where per capita water resources are only 28 percent of the global average. The tax is levied on the use of surface and ground water, with higher rates on enterprises that consume a lot of water. Water use exceeding quotas or in overexploited areas will be met with tax rates up to four times more, while use for agricultural purposes will see a reduction or exemption. The use of water that has come from sewage treatment facilities will also have favorable rates. The taxation will prevent unreasonable use by consumers like ski resorts and car washes, said Wang Jianfan, an official with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). In Hebei, where water shortages are a perennial issue, total water consumption dropped by 460 million tonnes in 2016, after the first tax trial was launched 18 months ago. To cut production costs and save water, high water-consuming enterprises like steel, cement and chemical companies have installed water-saving devices and replaced groundwater with desalinated sea water and recycled wastewater. "The main purpose of the tax is not to increase fiscal revenue," said Cai Zili of the State Administration of Taxation. In the nine regions, a total of 13.3 billion yuan (about 2 billion U.S. dollars) of water resource fees were collected last year, only a small fraction of a local fiscal revenue that was calculated in trillions. The tax has a great ecological significance and will help water management, said Cai. Improvements have been made under new water management measures introduced in 2012 to address water shortages and pollution. In 2016, China's water consumption dropped from 610 billion cubic meters to 604 billion cubic meters, and consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP was down by 7.2 percent. The expansion of the tax trials is a step forward in overall reform of the resource tax system, which is more the 30 years old. Nearly 800 billion yuan of resource taxes were collected from 1994 to 2016, an annual average growth of 14.8 percent, with 95 billion yuan collected last year, according to MOF data. A draft law on resource tax was released earlier this month for public comment and covers resources like crude oil, natural gas and coal. The reform has brought huge tax reductions to resource-saving and environment-friendly businesses, with taxes reduced by 4.2 billion yuan in the year ending June 2017.
