China to cut stamp duty from 30 to 10

Chinese authorities have decided to cut the stamp duty on share trading from 3‰ to 1‰, in a bid to restore investor confidence and boost the equities market.

The tax would be levied on both sides of the transaction, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and State Administration of Taxation (SAT) announced today.

In order to cool the stock market, the Chinese government tripled the stamp duty on stock transactions to 3‰ in May last year when people swarmed into the bullish stock market.

This tax measure has been expected for a long time since heavy sell-off and the prolonged fall hurt consumer spending in domestic stock market this year. It is considered as a strong move to retrieve investors' confidence.

According to tax data, the stamp duty on equity transactions totally amounted to RMB 200.5 billion, more than 10 times above the amount of a year earlier.