Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

China's tax authority on Tuesday refuted ill-intentioned rumors about tax inspections that form part of the smear campaigns against China's business environment.

Debt is indeed a problem for some Chinese local governments, but there's no need to exaggerate the seriousness of the challenge. China's fiscal situation is sound, safe and has enough redundancy to cope with risks and challenges. 

It is absurd to say that Chinese local governments might be looking to punish companies for decades-old tax misconduct in a bid to gain badly needed fiscal revenues.

China's State Taxation Administration (STA) said on Tuesday that it has not launched any nationwide or industry-wide campaign in this respect. 

As for some recent reports about tax inspections, the tax authority said some businesses were reminded to pay overdue taxes according to procedures, while others were informed of potential risks of violating tax policies. These are routine performances of duty by tax departments in accordance with laws and regulations, the STA said, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In recent times, some Western media outlets have run reports about "China cracking down on private enterprises, including multinational corporations," which constitute a new round of smearing China's economy with a sinister intention. 

By making noise and spreading rumors, some anti-China forces want to disrupt China's economic momentum, but that will be futile in the end, because the stories fabricated by them are far from the facts.

First, China's local government debt risk is controllable. The overall debt level of the Chinese government remains low compared with other major economies, and the authorities have adopted multiple measures to actively support local governments to resolve debt risks. It is absolutely impossible for local governments to fill the so-called fiscal expenditure gap by sucking blood from private enterprises.

Second, China is striving to rationalize its tax structure and reduce tax burdens on enterprises. Official data shows that China's newly implemented tax refunds, as well as its new cuts and deferrals of taxes and fees, neared 2.23 trillion yuan ($307.3 billion) in 2023 in total, according to Xinhua. 

Private-sector taxpayers are the biggest beneficiaries of China's tax policies. Tax and fee rebates, deductions or deferrals were worth about 1.69 trillion yuan in 2023 for private businesses. Obviously, the government is committed to cutting the private sector's tax burden, optimizing the business environment and further stimulating market vitality.

Third, in addition to taxation, multiple measures have been taken to optimize the business environment for the private economy and boost the high-quality development of the local economy. 

For instance, China's State Administration for Market Regulation in May unveiled 40 measures to optimize the business climate, and to promote the internationalization of China's vast market, in order to attract more foreign investment. 

The move was reportedly aimed at implementing the latest government directives on raising the business environment to reach international standards.

However, recently, some Westerners deliberately smeared China's business environment and hyped the rhetoric of "foreign companies leaving China." 

The only possible explanation is that they are trying to smear China by maliciously falsifying the fact, and ramping up decoupling from the Chinese economy. Their efforts are doomed to fail as their dishonest arguments are untenable.

In 2023, China contributed about 30 percent to world economic growth, and it remains one of the most important engines for the global economy. China's development is a dividend for the global economy and multinational corporations. 

Hopefully, Western companies can identify rumors and maintain confidence in the Chinese market. Only in this way can they share dividends from China's high-quality development.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn