During a press conference following the close of the 13th National People's Congress on 15 March 2019, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that a decision has been made on plans to cut value added tax (VAT) rates and the employer pension contribution. Under the current plan, the VAT rate will be cut from 16% percent to 13% percent for the manufacturing sector and from 10% percent to 9% for the construction and transport sectors effective 1 April 2019. For other industries, Li said the govern…