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BEIJING, Oct. 16-- The State Council, China's cabinet, on Wednesday called for enhanced efforts to further alleviate burdens on companies to increase the momentum of development and provide foreign investors with a better business environment. The policies of cutting taxes and fees should be implemented carefully, and efforts should be made to solve difficulties for enterprises, to ensure that taxes on manufacturing and other major industries will drop significantly, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. In the first eight months, tax and fee cuts exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan (about 212.03 billion U.S. dollars), further easing the burden on enterprises, increasing incomes and employment, and effectively stimulating market vitality, according to the meeting. It estimated that the total tax and fee cuts will surpass 2 trillion yuan by the end of this year. Also, the cuts played a significant role in counteracting downward pressure, stabilizing the country's economy and maintaining the economic operation within a reasonable range. The meeting urged local governments to intensify the management of fiscal budgets and maintain strict control of general expenditures. The country should unveil more measures to create jobs, encourage entrepreneurship and innovation and reduce fee burdens on the manufacturing industry in research and development to generate endogenous growth impetus. | 
