November 18, China recently announced that micro and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) will be exempt from 22 types of administrative fees charged by 13 different government departments in a bid to substantially reduce the financial burdens on smaller companies.

The exemption period will be between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2014, according to a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on Nov. 14.

The 22 types of fees include enterprise registration fees as charged by administrative departments of industry and commerce, tax invoices fees as charged by tax departments and customs supervision fees as charged by customs departments.

The new announcement is very targeted, but it is more symbolic rather than practically useful, a netease.com said in a report.

China’s MSEs have been hit badly this year by a vicious combination of rising raw materials and labor costs, slowing overseas demand in core markets in Europe and the U.S. and the government’s prudent monetary policies, which have made it harder and more costly for them to raise money.

China has issued an array of files to cancel administrative fees related to enterprises since 1982, when the State Council, the cabinet, released a circular aimed at reducing the heavy burden faced be enterprises at the time, the report said.

In 2008, China cut 100 types of administrative fees totaling RMB 19 billion. At the beginning of 2011, 31 types of fees were canceled, reducing the burden on businesses RMB 5 billion, according to the report.

This round of reductions is very small by comparison and the exemptions are only a temporary measure, the report said.