Ten Measures for Encouraging and Supporting Tourism Development in Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone

The following measures are hereby formulated in a bid to comprehensively implement the Plan for Construction of Pingtan International Tourism Island and the decisions and plans of the provincial Party committee and the provincial government, give full play to the integration effect of the guidance by the policy, encourage and support the high-quality development of the tourism industry, and accelerate the establishment of internationally renowned tourist destinations.

I. Optimizing tourism infrastructures

1. Improve supporting facilities for tourism transportation. Improve road access conditions, optimize the configurations of bus routes in the peak tourist season and to key tourism-generating regions and destinations, and provide better services for tourist attractions through improving tourist transportation and urban traffic. Promote the construction of tourist traffic facilities such as urban greenways, cycling lines, hiking trails, slow-moving systems, and public parking lots, and improve supporting facilities for leisure travel services. Eligible tourist transportation facility projects will be given provincial-level special fund subsidies in priority.

2. Construct a tourism distribution service center. The zone treasury shall provide appropriate support for public service projects such as tourism distribution centers that are mainly invested by enterprises. The tourism distribution center project meeting the requirements of the industry standards shall be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 3 million, RMB 2 million or RMB 500,000 by grade 1, 2 or 3 respectively; the tourist service center project meeting the requirements of the industry standards shall be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 300,000, RMB 200,000 or RMB 100,000 depending on the scale, namely, large, medium or small, respectively; the travel leisure station meeting the requirements of the industry standards shall be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 300,000 or RMB 200,000 according to level 1 or 2 respectively.

3. Solidly promote the “toilet revolution” in the tourism. The zone treasury shall appropriately subsidize the tourism toilet projects that are mainly invested by enterprises. A newly-established tourist toilet up to the industry standards shall be given a one-off grant of RMB 300,000, RMB 200,000, or RMB 100,000 according to level 3A, 2A, or 1A, respectively. A rebuilt tourism toilet meeting the industry standards will be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 150,000, RMB 100,000 and RMB 50,000 according to level 3A, 2A, or 1A, respectively. Those that have already received other related subsidies to municipal toilets or infrastructures will no longer enjoy this subsidy.

II. Supporting the construction of tourism industry projects

4. Support landmark tourism product projects. For tourism projects with an investment of RMB 1 billion or more, support will be given accordingly. (1) Guarantee the land used for projects. Project construction land use indexes will be arranged in priority, with land transferred through investment attraction, auctioning or hanging; the construction land transfer fee shall be allowed to be paid by installments but within six months, and the initial payment ratio shall not be less than 50% of the total transfer price. (2) Guarantee supporting facilities for projects. Priority shall be given to the construction of water, power and gas supply, road, surrounding greening facilities, etc., and the following support shall be given: an amount of subsidy equal to the accrued fee for supporting facilities of urban construction for the construction area self-held by the enterprise within the scope of the project land shall be given and used for the construction for the project infrastructures; the government shall be responsible for construction of supporting facilities for surrounding greening between the project land and the main road, and for daily maintenance of them. (3) Subsidized loan support. A single project is subsidized according to 20% of the annual loan interest, and shall not be subsidized for more than three years accumulatively, with the amount of interest subsidy not exceeding RMB 10 million (a high-star hotel project separately subsidized). The interest rate for the loan period is calculated based on the benchmark loan interest rate (promulgated by the People’s Bank of China) for the same period. 50% of the interest subsidy is given after the project is completed and the rest 50% is given after the project is put into operation.

5. Encourage the development of tourist hotels. For a newly-acclaimed four-star tourist hotel, a one-time reward of RMB 2 million will be given; for a tourist hotel that is upgraded from three-star to four-star, a one-time reward of RMB 1 million will be given. For a newly-acclaimed cultural-themed tourist hotel, a one-time reward of RMB 1 million or RMB 800,000 will be given by “Gold Ding” grade or “Silver Ding” grade, respectively. For a newly-received green tourism hotel, a one-off reward of RMB 300,000 or RMB 200,000 will be given by “Gold Leaf Grade” or “Silver Leaf Grade”, respectively. For a newly-recognized boutique tourist hotel, a one-time reward of RMB 300,000 will be given. A tourist hotel may enjoy the better of two of the above rewards, but shall not enjoy them both.

For five-star and above tourist hotels, additional supporting and preferential policies and measures will be provided.

6. Support self-driving campsite projects. The self-driving campsite project that meets the requirements of the industry standards shall be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 600,000 or RMB 300,000 according to grade 1 or 2, respectively. For a project with an investment of not less than RMB 50 million, a subsidy of RMB 1 million will be additionally given.

III. Making every effort to improve tourist attractions

7. Encourage the creation of A-level scenic spots. For newly-reviewed national 5A tourist attractions (or national-level tourist resorts), 4A tourist attractions, and 3A tourist attractions (or provincial-level tourist resorts), a one-off reward of RMB 5 million, RMB 3 million, and RMB 1 million will be given, respectively.

8. Encourage the transformation and upgrading of scenic spots. For newly-acclaimed A-level scenic spots, a subsidy of RMB 500,000 or RMB 300,000 will be given every year as if they were 4A-level or 3A-level scenic spots, which will be specially used for upgrading and improving facilities in the scenic spots.

IV. Vigorously developing rural tourism

9. Cultivate villages and towns with distinctive tourism characteristics. For newly-received provincial rural five-star, four-star and three-star tourism and leisure market towns, a one-time reward of RMB 1 million, RMB 800,000 and RMB 600,000 will be given to the townships and towns, respectively; for newly-acclaimed provincial five-star, four-star and three-star villages with distinctive rural tourism characteristics, a one-time reward of RMB 600,000, RMB 400,000 and RMB 200,000 will be given to the townships and towns, respectively; for newly-received provincial five-star, four-star and three-star rural tourism business units, a one-time reward of RMB 300,000, RMB 200,000 and RMB 100,000 will be given, respectively.

10. Encourage the development of the tourist home industry. For newly-recommended “Gold-class” and “Silver-class” tourist homes, a one-off reward of RMB 200,000 and RMB 100,000 will be given, respectively.

V. Increasing tourism promotion efforts

11. Encourage the placement of travel advertisements. Tourism, cultural and sports enterprises in the zone will be appropriately subsidized if they place tourism image promotion advertisements through central media, overseas or in the important tourism-generating regions outside the island, with the slogans highlighting such words as “Pingtan Blue” and “Pingtan International Tourism Island” and the pictures reflecting “Pingtan Blue” logo and Pingtan scenery, or will subsidized 20% of the actual amount of placement if they place advertisements through overseas media, or 15% if they place advertisements through other media. The maximum one-off subsidy is RMB 300,000, and a single enterprise shall enjoy a subsidy of no more than RMB 1 million annually. This reward is not granted for government-led or government-purchased services.

12. Encourage participation in travel promotion. Enterprises or individuals signing up for out-of-area tourism exhibitions, tourism promotion conferences or other market development activities organized or led by the zone tourism administrative department for the purpose of propagandizing the brand image of the “Pingtan Blue” international tourism island will be subsidized at 50% of the actual round-trip transportation and accommodation expenses (which must meet standards for travelling expenses).

13. Encourage the organization of tourism activities. Tourism, cultural and sports enterprises in the zone holding tourism festivals, tourism promotion, event activities in the zone will be appropriately subsidized if more than 30 media report the activities. An enterprise will be given a one-time subsidy of RMB 80,000 if it invests no less than RMB 200,000 (inclusive) but no more than RMB 500,000 (exclusive) in the activity it holds, or a one-time of subsidy of RMB 180,000 if it invests no less than RMB 500,000 (inclusive) but no more than RMB 1 million (exclusive), or a one-time of subsidy of RMB 250,000 if it invests no less than RMB 1 million (inclusive).

14. Encourage the development of tourism specialty products. Enterprises developing tourism commodities and souvenirs with Pingtan characteristics and Pingtan elements will be given appropriate prizes. Enterprises receiving the national-level first, second and third prizes are given a one-time reward of RMB 100,000, RMB 80,000 and RMB 50,000, respectively; enterprises receiving the provincial-level first, second and third prizes are given a one-time reward of RMB 50,000, RMB 30,000 and RMB 20,000, respectively. A reward will be given to the same commodity at the same level (national level or provincial level) once only. Subsidies will not be repeatedly given to the same activity held in different years; the same enterprise will only be given the subsidy corresponding to the highest prize if the activity held by it is awarded several prizes.

VI. Expanding the tourist source market

15. Grow travel agencies in the zone into big and strong ones. Travel agencies in the zone with the newly-reviewed service quality credit ratings of 5A, 4A and 3A will be given a one-time reward of RMB 500,000, RMB 300,000 and RMB 100,000, respectively; those ranking the national “Top 100” for the first time will be given a one-time reward of RMB 1 million.

16. Encourage the setup of new travel agencies. The travel agencies newly established or relocated to the zone will be given a one-off subsidy of RMB 200,000 or RMB 300,000 respectively depending on the grade of the annual prime operating revenues, namely, the grade of between RMB 50 million (inclusive) to RMB 100 million, or the grade of no less than RMB 100 million (inclusive). A travel agency that enjoys the subsidy must promise that it will not move the place of registration and tax out of the zone within 5 years.

17. Encourage travel agencies to open branches beyond the zone. A travel agency headquartered in Pingtan will be given a one-time reward of RMB 30,000 each time it opens a branch (including business outlet) beyond the zone, which is in good standing for over half a year.

18. Encourage travel agencies to organize tourists to travel on the Lan Island. A travel agency in the zone organizing no less than 2,000 tourists (inclusive) from outside the zone to travel on the Lan Island in the year will be appropriately subsidized by grade depending on the peak tourist season or off-season if the tourists stay at the local hotels for no less than one night (inclusive) and visit one or more paid scenic spots. (1) From May 1 to October 31 (excluding Friday, Saturday and holidays), subsidies of promotion funds will be given to the local travel agency as per RMB 20 per tourist from within the province, RMB 40 per tourist from outside the province, and RMB 100 per overseas tourist. (2) From November 1 to April 30, subsidies of promotion funds will be given to the local travel agency as per RMB 40 per tourist from within the province, RMB 80 per tourist from outside the province, and RMB 200 per overseas tourist.

VII. Introducing and cultivating tourism talents

19. Encourage the cultivation of tourism talents. Eligible technical secondary schools and institutions of higher learning in the zone are encouraged to set cultural and tourism service majors, like tour guide, tourism management, hotel management and catering; they will be given a one-time reward of RMB 50,000 for each class of 30 or more students enrolled.

20. Support the establishment of cross-strait research-university bases. A cross-strait research-university base independently or jointly established in Pingtan will be given a one-time of reward of RMB 200,000 if it is a provincial-level base or RMB 500,000 if it is national-level one.

VIII. Improving the level of tour guide services

21. Encourage people to obtain qualifications of tour guides through examination. Those who have signed up for the National Tour Guide Qualification Examination in Pingtan and obtained the qualifications of junior tour guides, intermediate tour guides and senior tour guides will be given a one-time reward of RMB 1,000, RMB 3,000 and RMB 5,000, respectively; each level of foreign language guides will be additionally given a one-off reward of RMB 3,000 reward on the above basis.

22. Encourage tour guides to practice on the Lan Island. An intermediate tour guide brought in by a travel agency in the zone will be subsidized RMB 5,000 every year and a senior tour guide will be subsidized RMB 10,000 every year if the guides lead tour groups for no less than 60 days (including 30 days in the zone) in the year.

23. Encourage tour guides to obtain honors. The tour guides in the zone who have signed contracts with the travel agencies in the zone for more than 3 years and won the first, second and third prizes and individual awards in the national tour guide competitions will be given a one-time reward of RMB 100,000, RMB 60,000, RMB 40,000 and RMB 20,000, respectively.

The tour guides in the zone who have signed contracts with the travel agencies in the zone for more than 3 years and won the first, second and third prizes and individual awards in the provincial tour guide competitions will be given a one-time reward of RMB 50,000, RMB 30,000, RMB 20,000 and RMB 10,000, respectively.

The tour guides in the zone who have signed contracts with the travel agencies in the zone for more than 3 years and been selected to be gold guides and gold commentators will be given a one-time reward of RMB 100,000 and RMB 60,000, respectively.

IX. Promoting tourism cooperation between Lan Island and Taiwan

24. Support Taiwan tour guides to practice in Pingtan. Taiwan tour guides holding tour guide certificates accepted in Taiwan can practice in our zone after they have been certified by our zone and incorporated into the unified supervision. Such Taiwan tour guides will receive a one-time reward of RMB 2,000 and may also practice in Fujian Free Trade Zone after obtaining the special tour guide certificates for the Free Trade Zone. Taiwan tour guides practicing in Pingtan will be given a one-off reward of RMB 20,000 and RMB 30,000 respectively each year they lead tour groups for over 30 days and 45 days.

25. Encourage travel agencies to organize Taiwanese tourists to enter Pingtan via Pingtan Port. A travel agency registered in the zone and organizing 500 (inclusive) to 1,000 tourists or 1,000 (inclusive) tourists to enter Pingtan via Pingtan Port throughout the year will be rewarded as per RMB 250 per tourist or RMB 300 per tourist, respectively, if the tourists stay in Pingtan for no less than two nights (inclusive). The reward or subsidy may be given subject to the more preferential one of this reward policy and the above Article 18 pertaining to the subsidies for organization of Taiwanese tourists and training for Taiwan residents in the zone shall prevail.

26. Encourage travel agencies to organize tourists from outside the zone to enter Taiwan via Pingtan. If travel agencies registered in the zone organize tourists from outside the zone to enter Taiwan via Pingtan Port in groups and the tourists stay in Pingtan for no less than one night (inclusive), the zone will give rewards to the group-organizing travel agencies or the travel agencies that undertake local reception services for groups heading for Taiwan as per RMB 120 per tourist. The reward or subsidy may be given subject to the more preferential one of this reward policy and the above Article 18 pertaining to the subsidies for organization of Taiwanese tourists and training for Taiwan residents in the zone shall prevail.

27. Encourage Taiwan teams to operate homestay tourism projects. A Taiwanese enterprise or resident independently investing in and operating a homestay project in Pingtan will be given a one-time reward of RMB 100,000 if the construction area of the homestay hotel ranges from 100m2 (inclusive) to 400 m2 (exclusive) or RMB 200,000 if the construction area of the homestay hotel ranges from 400m2 (inclusive) to 800 m2 (exclusive). A Taiwanese enterprise or resident contracting and operating a homestay hotel developed by a State-owned enterprise directly under the zone in Pingtan will be given a one-time reward of RMB 50,000 if the construction area of the homestay hotel ranges from 100m2 (inclusive) to 400 m2 (exclusive) or RMB 100,000 if the construction area of the homestay hotel ranges from 400m2 (inclusive) to 800 m2 (exclusive).

28. Tickets for scenic spots in the zone are free for Taiwanese residents. Taiwan compatriots may, with the card-type Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwanese Residents or Residence Permit for Taiwanese Residents, be exempted from the ticket cost for the main entrance to the scenic spot owned by the government or operated by the State-owned enterprise directly under the zone.

29. Subsidy for the suspense of the Lan Island-Taiwan route service for any reason. Travel agencies in the zone will be given a subsidy of RMB 300 per tourist for a single trip if they have bought “Strait” and “Lina Wheel” ship tickets for group tours organized by them but they have to head for Taiwan or Pingtan by other means of transportation because of the suspense of the shipping service.

X. Supervision and management measures

30. The various rewards and subsidies involved in these Measures shall be specially arranged by the zone treasury.

31. The reward and subsidy policies are implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Implementation Plan for the Preferential Fiscal and Tax Policies of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone (Lan Zong Guan Zong [2016] No. 31).

32. The special fund applicant shall be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy and validity of the application materials. If it is found that the enterprise practices fraud, makes a fraudulent application and claim or misappropriates the fund, the enterprise will be disqualified from applying for the reward or subsidy, and be recovered the reward or subsidy that it has already enjoyed, and be seriously dealt with subject to the relevant provisions.

33. If preferential policies listed in these Measures overlap with other preferential policies of the zone, you may apply for the reward or subsidy subject to the more preferential ones.

34. These Measures shall take effect as of January 1, 2019 and last for a trial period of three years, while the Nine Measures of the Management Committee of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone for the Promotion of Tourism Industry Development (Lan Zong Guan Zong [2015] No.200), and the Interim Measures for the Support of Tourism Homestay Hotels in Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone (Lan Zong Guan Zong [2016] No. 258) are abolished, and the preferential policies covered in the Circular of the Management Committee of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone on Issuing the Notice of the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone on Further Improving the “5+2” Preferential Policies on Rewards and Subsidies to the Industry (Lan Zong Guan Zong [2017] No. 34) cease to be implemented.

35. The tourism administrative department of Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone interprets these Measures.