Alibaba’s home province to offer preferential tax policies and promote ‘hard tech’ such as chips and digital security

January 25, 2022 iGaming & Gambling Industry Updates

Zhejiang province, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is putting into place preferential tax policies and will promote hard tech industries such as integrated circuits and digital security in 2022, as it seeks to bolster government efforts to strengthen self-sufficiency in strategic technology sectors.

The local government said it aims to ease the financial burden for enterprises and individuals by 300 billion yuan (US$47.42 billion) this year.

“We will fully implement preferential tax policies and fight for stronger support from the central government,” it said in the 2022 government work report, adding that the government was using “real gold and silver” to help industries “go to the battlefront with fewer burdens” and to focus on development.

The local government also said it would “promote technology innovation” and “make every effort to promote growth of the digital economy”. It will increase spending focused on technology innovation fields by 40 per cent and offer support to industries including digital security, integrated circuits, intelligent computing and intelligent photovoltaics (solar power).

It also intends to support future fields, such as brain-like intelligence and quantum information.

The local government’s policy support is in line with China’s pivot towards core technology areas to help it fend off pressure and sanctions imposed by the US in recent years. Entrepreneurs and venture firms are also turning towards core tech such as semiconductors and robotics, instead of softer consumer internet businesses, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this month.