Domestic and overseas telecoms companies operating in China will be required to pay a surtax to subsidise the improvement of telecoms services in the west of the country. “The State Council will soon issue policies relevant to the tax,” said Wang Lijian, a Ministry of Information Industry spokesman.
According to another official at the ministry contracted by Bloomberg, the tax will be levied on service providers and companies offering value-added services, including the internet, when the market is opened to more foreign investment.