Article/Jia Kang of China Economic 50 People Forum
What can really play a role in creating a long-term mechanism must be the route of "economic means first", that is, in the development and operation of the market economy, based on the optimization of interest orientation and interest constraints, we should standardize the long-term mechanism with economic leverage and the principle of "focusing on things rather than people" in accordance with the law to promote energy conservation, consumption reduction, emission reduction and pollution control.
Economic development depends on the hands of the market rather than the government. In terms of resource tax reform, what does the government really need to do? I think there are two key things: one is that when the resource tax covers coal and other resource products, we should master the strength in the implementation process, so that most enterprises can continue to develop under the influence of the new tax burden, while a few enterprises are eliminated; On the other hand, when such a tax burden affecting the price comparison relationship is transmitted to the price of final consumer goods, the government should timely and appropriately raise the minimum living standard to hold the real income of the lowest income class.
How China correctly handles the balance between economic development and ecological environment protection is actually a problem of how to control the pressure on ecological environment and pollution impact within an acceptable range and achieve sustainable growth. At this stage, the decision makers have a very clear intention in this regard. In the process of development, they emphasize that they can no longer "lead by GDP" or fall into "GDP worship".
But in fact, how to deal with this challenging problem is full of difficulties. Because in the course of our decades of development and economic take-off, we regrettably have gone back to the old path of "pollution before treatment" in many other economies that we explicitly said we should avoid in the past. Now China's pollution is very serious, and the environmental crisis represented by haze has become a threat to the overall sustainability. How can we turn this situation around?! It takes a relatively long time.
As for the choice of means - how to effectively control pollution, reduce emissions and reduce pollution, I think there is a point that needs to be emphasized: full attention should be paid to long-term economic means in the context of rule of law. I don't think the administrative means repeatedly expressed by the government departments to selectively "close, stop and transfer" enterprises can play a fundamental role, because it can only face a limited sample of enterprises at best, and there are more than 60 million market players in China now, so the government has no ability to decide which should be closed, which should be stopped, how to transfer and how to merge.
Some people also emphasize "access by legal means", which sounds very reasonable. The actual operation still belongs to the public power representatives - officials with actual power - to identify which access and which not, which is similar to the aforementioned "close, close and transfer simultaneously". If this kind of administrative direct operation is widely used to solve the problem, it will inevitably lead to various rent-seeking and unfair practices that are related, distorted and counterproductive.
What can really play a role in creating a long-term mechanism must be the route of "economic means first", that is, in the development and operation of the market economy, based on the optimization of interest orientation and interest constraints, we should standardize the long-term mechanism with economic leverage and the principle of "focusing on things rather than people" in accordance with the law to promote energy conservation, consumption reduction, emission reduction and pollution control. The tax system in this regulation system is particularly important. China urgently needs to establish a relevant tax regulation mechanism and match it with other necessary means.
Environmental tax is a very important part of "economic means oriented". The basic orientation of environmental tax reform, as stated in the Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, is "fee to tax", that is, to change the environmental charges that have been set up now into taxes - of course, this will be more conducive to the full coverage of standardization and more powerful.
But then there is a controversial question: in addition to the "fee to tax", should we consider drawing on international experience to levy a special European "carbon tax" type environmental tax? Is it possible for China to make a similar choice? In this regard, some opponents even described the carbon tax as the reason for the hostile forces to suppress China. Such a dispute is difficult to resolve at the moment, and needs to be further discussed in the future. I do not approve of easily labeling "carbon tax" as a politicized ideology; Its actual mechanism of action can also be embodied in the existing taxes - we can review and learn from the precedent of the "fuel tax" introduced in the reform.
Next, it needs to be emphasized that in addition to the environmental tax reform, China now has an important opportunity to reform the resource tax. stay crude oil After the launch of the "ad valorem" reform of natural gas resource tax, it is now clear that all relevant departments have made a statement. This year, when the reform of supporting finance and taxation was launched, the reform highlights included the need to cover the mechanism of "ad valorem" to "ad valorem" of resource tax to coal. Once this reform is launched, the tax burden of only 2 yuan to 3 yuan per ton of coal in China (only 8 yuan for coking coal) has become irrelevant, and will become relevant, with obvious regulatory effect.
The market price of coal has risen to more than 500 yuan in the past 20 years (so if the resource tax is levied at 5% ad valorem, the actual tax burden of each ton of coal will rise by about 10 times), then in terms of economic benefits, while the resulting price comparison relationship changes, we can take the opportunity to rationalize the price formation mechanism of China's basic energy, and promote the front end of the industrial chain The tax burden of upstream coal is transmitted to the closely followed power industry (coal determines 80% of China's power supply, that is, 80% of the electricity we use is coal fired thermal power).
Therefore, in the transmission relationship of the entire industrial chain, all stakeholders should consider how to adapt to the changes in the situation, compete with the real skills of energy conservation and consumption reduction, and how to expand their share in the market to gain the first opportunity in the competition. Then, they must do everything possible to save energy and consumption, and develop processes, technologies and products conducive to energy conservation and consumption reduction.
The effect that the key transformation can bring is to transmit such interest pressure and power from the upstream to the middle and downstream. In the transmission of the most important basic energy lifeline in China, the first is the transmission of "coal to electricity", which makes the supporting reform of the power sector "overcoming difficulties" imperative, This is bound to promote our country to put into practice the power reform required in the No. 5 document of the power reform issued 11 years ago, and also to implement a breakthrough in the administrative control of electricity prices of relevant departments, instead of lingering on for a long time and continuing to move on on key issues.
Such a mechanism, starting from the reform of coal resource tax, will create an economic lever covering the entire industrial chain and regulating interests, so that the market can play a decisive role in promoting energy conservation, consumption reduction and emission reduction, is really very important for China. Now we still need to observe whether this reform plan, once announced, is qualified and dare to really overcome difficulties and break through the barriers of interest solidification. The resistance in this respect may come from the vested interests of the excessive monopoly of the power sector, including the power of the government to regulate electricity prices that is "related to the national economy and the people's livelihood".
Once such an overall transformation is launched to substantively straighten out the relationship between resource and energy prices and the price formation mechanism, it will have far-reaching and long-term significance for China's sustainable development and truly resolve the haze like environmental threat. We should seize this opportunity to create conditions to allow the market to play a full role in promoting environmental protection. In terms of resource tax reform, what does the government really need to do?
I think there are two key things. One is that when the resource tax covers coal and other resource products, we should master the strength in the implementation process, so that most enterprises can continue to develop under the influence of the new tax burden, and a few enterprises are eliminated. If the price comparison relationship is basically reasonable, We can do this for several rounds and finally put it in place. What is eliminated in the competition is the so-called overcapacity and backward capacity, and the whole process is to build an upgraded version of China's economy. The strength that the government should grasp should be able to measure to make the reform both feasible and cohesive, and finally achieve the established goal.
In particular, the "price formation mechanism" behind the "price comparison relationship" should be more determined by the market, so that the market can truly play the role of survival of the fittest. Another key point that the government needs to grasp is that when such a tax burden that affects the price comparison relationship is transmitted to the price of final consumer goods, the government should timely and appropriately raise the standard of subsistence allowance to support the actual income of the lowest income class - China's subsistence allowance has already covered all cities and villages, and the fixed cost of subsistence allowance management has already been paid.
In this regard, the government only moderately raised the standard in a timely manner to keep the actual living standard of the lowest income class from declining, while people above the middle income class will adapt to the new changes in the price comparison relationship to adjust their consumption habits and patterns, that is, pay more attention to electricity and water conservation.
To sum up, from enterprises to residents, more than 60 million market players and nearly 1.4 billion social members in China have been affected by this. After that, we all "endogenously" start from economic interests, pay more attention to energy conservation and consumption reduction, and pay more attention to low-carbon development. This is a real long-term mechanism that should be built, and it is the key point that I think should be grasped.
If such a systematic reform problem is not handled properly, China will still continue two paradoxes: one is the government's paradox, which emphasizes the scientific outlook on development every day, but the reform closely related to scientific development (such as the reform of the power sector) has dragged on for more than 10 years.
The other is the people's rebellion. Everyone is blaming the smog. Everyone says that the environmental problem is particularly serious now. But when it comes to the reform of environmental tax and resource tax, the final consumer goods will be affected - the electricity price will rise, the water price will rise, then the general reaction is not to accept, or even jump to the feet to scold. The government's contradiction and the people's contradiction are two obvious problems that must be dealt with in China's real social phenomenon. We must rationally understand, build consensus, resolve conflicts, respect economic laws, seize the precious opportunity, and truly make the reform achieve the desired results.
(The author of this article introduces: Director of the Institute of Financial Science, Ministry of Finance, researcher, doctoral supervisor.)
(The "2014 Sina Jinqilin Forum" hosted by Sina Finance is scheduled to be held at JW Marriott Hotel in Beijing on November 22, 2014. The theme of this forum is reform and decision-making. It focuses on the transformation and challenges of China's economy in the deep reform period. Entrance to Registration 2015, the next step of decision-making, waiting for you!)
