Beijing local taxation bureaus forwarding of ¡°Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on the Effectiveness of the Exchange of Letters Regarding the Tax Provisions in the Chinese and Italian governments¡¯ Ocean Shipping Agreement¡±

Jing Di Shui Fa[2005]No. 272
The local taxation bureau of all provinces, autonomous regions and all offices directly under the leadership:
¡¡¡¡We hereby forward ¡°the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on the Effectiveness of the Exchange of Letters Regarding the Tax Provisions in the Chinese and Italian governments¡¯ Ocean Shipping Agreement¡± (Guo Shui Fa [2005] No. 53) for you to follow.
  May 30, 2005  

TNotice of the State Administration of Taxation on the Effectiveness of the Exchange of Letters Regarding the Tax Provisions in the Chinese and Italian governments¡¯ Ocean Shipping Agreement
Guo Shui Fa [2005] No. 53
Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on the Effectiveness of the Exchange of Letters Regarding the Tax Provisions in the Chinese and Italian governments¡¯ Ocean Shipping Agreement
¡¡¡¡ Bureaus of state taxation and those of local taxation in all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and municipalities directly under state planning, Yangzhou Taxation Institute:
¡¡¡¡On October 21, 2004, representatives of the Chinese and Italian governments formally exchanged letters on the revision of relevant provisions concerning taxation in the two governments¡¯ ocean shipping agreement. The two governments have notified each other through the diplomatic channel to confirm the effectiveness of the exchanged letters on March 28, 2005. The exchanged letters are hereby printed and distributed to you for implementation as of the arrival of the letters.
April 4, 2005

A letter from Italian ambassador in China to Minister Zhang Chunxian
 
Minister Zhang Chunxian
Ministry of Communications P.R.C.
Dear Minister Zhang Chunxian,
¡¡¡¡I would like to mention a matter related to the ¡°Ocean Shipping Agreement between the Government of Italy Republic and the Government of the People¡¯s Republic of China" concluded in Beijing on Oct 8, 1972, and suggest: (1) amend Clause 2 of Article 9 into: ¡°In terms of the income of a shipping company (engaged in international transport business) of a contracting party, the other contracting party shall exempt the income tax and any other taxes on the income international transport business¡±; (2) The above amendment will not influence the provisions in ¡°The Agreement between the Government of Italy Republic and the Government of the People¡¯s Republic of China on avoiding double taxation and avoiding tax evasion for incomes" concluded on Oct 31, 1986.
¡¡¡¡If the government of the People¡¯s Republic of China agrees the above proposals, I suggest that this letter and your letter of reply will constitute an agreement between the governments of the two sides. After the legal procedures that cause the validation of this letter are completed as respective domestic laws of the contracting parties, the exchanged letters will become effective upon the receipt of the party (whichever is later)
Best regards.
¡¡¡¡Signature of Menegatti
¡¡¡¡Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Italia in China.
Oct 21, 2004, Beijing

Letter of reply from Minister Zhang Chunxian to Ambassador of Italia in China
To Mr. Menegatti, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Italia in China Dear Ambassador Menegatti,
¡¡¡¡I have the honor of confirming the letter I have received from you today, the contents are as shown in the follows:
¡¡¡¡¡°I would like to mention a matter related to Maritime Agreement between the Republic of Italia and the People¡¯s Republic of China concluded in Beijing on Oct 8, 1972, and suggest: (1) amend Paragraph 2 of Article 9 into: ¡°In terms of the income of a shipping company (engaged in international transport business) of a contracting party, the other contracting party shall exempt the income tax and any other taxes on the income international transport business¡±; (2) The above amendment will not influence the provisions in the Agreement of the Government of the Republic of Italia and the Government of the People¡¯s Republic of China about Avoiding Double Taxation on Income and Preventing Tax Evasion concluded on Oct 31, 1986.
¡¡¡¡If the government of the People¡¯s Republic of China agrees the above proposals, I suggest that this letter and your letter of reply will constitute an agreement between the governments of the two sides. After the legal procedures that cause the validation of this letter are completed as respective domestic laws of the contracting parties, the exchanged letters will become effective upon the receipt of the party (whichever is later)
¡¡¡¡Best regards¡±
¡¡¡¡Zhang Chunxian
¡¡¡¡Minister of Ministry of Communications P.R.C.
Oct 21, 2004