Present situation and problems of industrial salt management system reform in China

Salt is closely related to people's daily life, such as edible salt; At the same time, it is also the raw material of basic industries, especially chemical industries (caustic soda and soda ash), such as industrial salt. For the latter, China has always attached importance to its management. Since the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), a planned management system has been implemented. 1990 the State Council promulgated the regulations on the administration of salt industry; 1994 promulgated the regulations on the administration of salt for iodine deficiency diseases; 1996, the "salt monopoly measures" was promulgated. With the gradual deepening of China's economic system reform, can industrial salt be liberalized? How does the industrial salt management system adapt to the requirements of socialist market economy? Should we continue to implement the planned management system or gradually transition to the socialist market economy system? This has produced a series of contradictions and problems.

one

In China, the state monopoly of salt by the central government began in the Warring States Period. Since then, salt tax has been the pillar tax for the government to collect people's wealth and enrich national strength. Salt monopoly is based on salt monopoly. Salt is important because, firstly, people can't live without salt; Second, salt tax was the pillar tax at that time.

Historically, the main use of salt was eating. In the early days of the People's Republic of China 1950, salt accounted for 88.9% of the total salt production, and industrial salt only accounted for 6.2%. 1987 industrial salt has exceeded edible salt. 1992 industrial salt has reached14.58 million tons, accounting for 63% of the total salt output. By 1994, the industrial salt for caustic soda and soda ash alone accounts for 66.7% of the total salt output, and the salt only accounts for 25%. With the development of industry in China, the use of salt has changed greatly in composition. At the same time, the development of national industry and commerce also makes salt tax no longer a pillar tax.

According to the current laws and regulations, the production and operation of salt are managed in a planned way, and production is brought into the unified national plan. No matter whether it is a state-owned or collective saltworks, the salt produced must be sold by salt companies, and private enterprises and individuals are prohibited from operating saltworks. The price of salt is uniformly set by the national price department.

The planned management of salt industry is implemented by the Ministry of Light Industry, specifically by China National Salt Industry Corporation, that is, China National Salt Industry Corporation and local salt administration bureaus (or salt companies) exercise salt management functions on behalf of the government. At the same time, it is also an enterprise (local salt company or salt bureau, one team and two brands), responsible for the management and circulation of salt. It holds the law enforcement power of salt policy, is responsible for studying and proposing relevant policies and regulations, implementing salt policy management and supervising the production, sale and transportation of salt; At the same time, it holds the management right of salt-making enterprises, and it has the final say where and to whom salt is sold.

The saltworks have no operational autonomy, can't sell, can't settle accounts, just produce. The saltworks don't know who the salt was sold to, how much the price was, and how much the payment was recovered. Although some implement direct supply of saline-alkali, the saltworks can only be allocated as planned, and enterprises cannot settle accounts directly, so they must settle accounts with salt companies.

Salt enterprises must follow the channels, settlement prices and planned purchases stipulated by the salt management department; Salt production enterprises that do not produce and sell salt as planned shall be investigated and dealt with according to illicit salt; The transportation of salt shall be subject to a transportation permit and a transportation permit system, and the transportation permit shall be issued by the salt industry management department.

The composition of salt price is complicated. 1before the salt reform in February, 1994, the price of industrial salt had four forms: ex-factory price, distribution price, wholesale price and retail price. The distribution price includes: ex-factory price (available funds of salt field), salt industry development fund, salt tax, central balance, construction and installation management fee and service fee of China National Salt Industry Corporation. Freight is charged in addition to the delivery price. The wholesale price also includes various local expenses, such as local balance difference, local salt industry development fund and so on. Sales expenses and packaging fees are charged outside the price. In different areas, the price of salt and the amount of charges are different.

In terms of taxation, salt is also extremely special. 1994 Before the tax reform, only one special tax-salt tax was levied.

two

After the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the economic system reform was further intensified, and the state cancelled the mandatory plan of caustic soda and soda ash and put them on the market.

Two alkali-making enterprises entering the market began to consider how to adapt to the market, how to enhance competitiveness and how to improve economic benefits. Industrial salt, the raw material of the two alkalis, is still under the "umbrella" of planned economy.

From 65438 to 0993, China's economic development was overheated, the currency circulation was too large, and the inflation pressure was high, so the price index became the focus of the national government and people. This year, the salt industry has achieved another bumper harvest. After several years of bumper harvest, the stock of salt has greatly increased. In August of the same year, in the case of national salt overproduction and serious backlog, the national price department raised the price of industrial salt. The average price of salt rose by 60 yuan/ton, with an increase of over 39%. The original intention of the state to raise the price of industrial salt is to solve the problem that due to the rising price of raw materials and the rising production cost of salt, the benefits and losses of Yantian are reduced. However, the new salt price is unbearable for the two alkali enterprises. First, it can't be digested by itself, which will increase the annual cost of the two alkalis by about 960 million yuan, while the profit of 1993 is about 340 million yuan; Second, if the price shifts to downstream industries, it will cause a chain reaction of downstream industries and products, such as glass, ceramics, paper, soap, textile, agriculture, medicine, non-ferrous metals, metallurgy, electric power, military industry and so on. , increasing the pressure of inflation, which is not conducive to the state to control the price index; Third, saline-alkali products are close to the international market price, and it is difficult to transfer them by raising the product price. Therefore, the two alkali enterprises refused to implement and the new salt price failed to reach the designated position. Enterprises, associations and chemical authorities in the two alkali industries began to reflect this problem to the State Council and relevant departments, calling for the liberalization of industrial salt prices.

From then on, the price dispute of saline-alkali industry began. The interests of the salt side are the interests of the whole salt industry; The interests of the alkali side are the interests of two alkali enterprises.

From 65438 to 0994, in order to meet the requirements of the transformation from planned system to socialist market economy system, the state carried out major reforms in the tax system and implemented a turnover tax system with value-added tax as the main body. In accordance with the spirit of tax reform, product tax will be abolished and value-added tax will be levied instead. For the salt industry, the salt tax was abolished and the resource tax and value-added tax were levied instead. Due to the plan of value-added tax and tax burden, the price dispute of saline-alkali industry has evolved into a price-tax dispute, and it has begun to intensify. The salt industry department believes that the tax burden after tax reform is higher than that before tax reform, and the excess tax burden should be borne by salt enterprises; According to the Ministry of Chemical Industry, according to the spirit of the national tax reform, value-added tax is an in-price tax, which should be the opposite, and the price cannot be increased in disguise because of the tax reform.

In addition to the above explanation, there is another explanation within the national tax authorities. They advocate that 1992 as the base, the tax burden of two alkali enterprises will be reduced by 620 million yuan, and the tax burden of salt will be increased by 475 million yuan. Therefore, it is planned to transfer the increased tax burden of salt industry to the two alkali enterprises through the linkage of price and tax. According to the calculation of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, the tax burden of two alkali enterprises decreased by 480 million yuan, and the product tax of caustic soda decreased from 15% to 12% in 1993, and the tax burden decreased by 1500 million yuan. After deducting this factor, the actual tax burden is 330 million yuan, which is not equal to the tax burden of salt industry. If you add 12%, the tax burden will be reduced. Furthermore, this is equivalent to raising the salt price again in less than half a year after August 1993. Of course, two alkali enterprises cannot accept it.

Relevant departments and chemical departments in the State Council proposed that seawater is inexhaustible and has strong fluidity, and resources will not be exhausted due to salt mining. It is suggested that no or less resource tax should be levied to reduce the tax burden of salt industry. The main energy of the salt industry department is to implement the salt price, hoping that when the country sets the salt price, it will add the tax burden to downstream products such as chemical industry. Through the coordination of relevant departments, the resource tax on sea salt in the north is reduced from 25 yuan/ton to 20 yuan/ton. Although the resource tax has decreased slightly, overall, the tax burden of salt has increased. Before the tax reform, the salt tax was only 15.4 yuan/ton; After the tax reform, the industrial salt resource tax and value-added tax totaled an average of 54 yuan/ton, and the tax burden per ton of salt increased by 39.5 yuan compared with that before the tax reform, and the salt used for two alkalis was about 65.438+0.6 million tons/year, which increased the tax burden by about 630 million yuan. No matter for salt industry or alkali industry, no one can bear it, and no one is willing to bear it. For this reason, the price of industrial salt has not been determined, and it is impossible to settle accounts between salt and alkali, and the salt industry can't make out an invoice to recover the payment, and the two alkali enterprises can't deduct it without VAT bills, which affects the production and operation of salt and alkali enterprises.

During this period, the two alkali associations, the chemical industry authorities and the salt industry authorities have repeatedly reflected this problem to the State Council and relevant departments.

In order to solve the price-tax contradiction between salt and alkali as soon as possible, the relevant departments in the State Council started to reform the price of salt. In June 5438+February of the same year, the State Planning Commission issued the Notice on Reforming the Management of Salt Price, which introduced a new industrial salt price, simplified the price composition, canceled the distribution price, appropriately tightened the operating expenses, and included the commodity circulation fees such as construction and installation management fees, freight collection fees and service fees of China National Salt Industry Corporation in the wholesale price. However, some expenses have been transferred from internal prices to external prices. The price of salt excluding tax decreased slightly, and the resource tax decreased, but the price of salt including tax increased, which was equivalent to another price increase. This salt price adjustment has not fundamentally solved the dispute between salt and alkali, and the settlement between salt and alkali enterprises has not yet been reached.

Under the action of the law of value, the high price of industrial salt stimulated the development of small salt field, which has the advantages of light burden, flexible employment mechanism, low cost and low product price. In the market competition, the big salt field was pushed to an unfavorable position. Salt companies insist on selling at the national price, but the market does not accept this price, and the distribution plan is difficult to achieve. The big salt field is strongly challenged by the small salt field. At the same time, the state closed a number of small papermaking enterprises by implementing environmental protection measures, and the two alkali markets were weak. In addition, the contradiction between salt and alkali price tax has not been solved, which has led to more than 3 billion yuan in salt arrears for two alkali enterprises, and salt-making enterprises have also encountered great difficulties.

In August 1993 and February 1994, when the supply of raw salt exceeded demand, the national price authorities raised the price of industrial salt twice, which was resisted by the two alkali enterprises. In Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Hubei and other places, many saltworks stopped supplying salt to two alkali enterprises. In order to prevent enterprises from stopping production, two alkali-making enterprises tried to buy salt from foreign salt fields or salt fields jointly organized with the salt industry department, but they were seized by the salt administration department.

1994 65438+ 10/0/8, Shandong Salt Bureau organized a provincial salt administration inspection, focusing on investigating and dealing with illegal salt dealers and sales behaviors. Five large and medium-sized enterprises with large debts in the province stopped supplying salt. For example, the law enforcement officers of the Provincial Salt Administration Bureau set up a post at the entrance of Weifang Chemical Plant to check salt, and industrial salt is not allowed to enter the factory. The salt stocks of several enterprises are in a hurry and may stop production at any time. After the coordination of the Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, the supply of industrial salt was restored.

1994, Wuhan gehua group company did not purchase and allocate salt at a higher price as planned by the provincial salt affairs department, but purchased salt from the salt field jointly built by Lu Qing and the local salt affairs department, and was detained by Hubei salt affairs bureau for private salt and fined140,000 yuan, forcing gehua group company to go to court with the provincial salt affairs department.

three

During the reform of industrial salt management system by relevant departments in the State Council, the salt management department repeatedly reflected to the leaders and relevant departments in the State Council that the current industrial salt planning management system should be retained. 1994 10, China National Salt Industry Corporation drafted the Interim Measures for the Planning and Management of Industrial Salt in preparation for the "National Salt Industry Transportation and Marketing Conference", which made stricter provisions on the planning and management of industrial salt, and prepared to throw it out at the meeting in an attempt to re-establish the authority of planning and management.

Why is the salt industry department unwilling to let go of industrial salt? One theory is that this will affect the salt market. Because salt is monopolized, if industrial salt is not monopolized, some people will sell it as edible salt, and some unscrupulous traders will sell it as edible salt with earth salt and inferior salt; At the same time, it will have an impact on the prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders in China. Because the liberalization of industrial salt will impact the salt market in non-iodized salt, the prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders will be affected.

It is understood that in the cases investigated and dealt with nationwide, the sales of industrial salt and inferior salt have nothing to do with the two alkali enterprises. In the cases investigated, most of them are collusion between some people in the salt industry department and illegal traders.

Another way of saying it is that salt-making enterprises have a hard production environment, difficult operation, serious losses and heavy burdens, and need a planned management system to protect large state-owned salt-making enterprises.

Since the salt-making enterprises are in trouble, why can't they let go of the salt field, make it a legal entity that adapts to the market and the main body of market competition, and realize independent operation, self-financing, self-development and self-restraint? Why can't the profit in the current salt price tilt to the salt field, raise the salt price and appropriately reduce the circulation cost of the intermediate link?

The price of industrial salt 1993 set by the national price department in August, taking Weifang salt in Shandong as an example, the delivery price of industrial salt per ton is 209.7 1 yuan, of which 120 yuan is paid to the salt company 10 yuan, and the actual salt field can get1kloc. This price adjustment, the price per ton of salt increased by 63.38 yuan, of which 44.3% was given to the salt field and 55.7% was obtained from the intermediate link of salt industry. It also stipulates that the circulation cost in the wholesale price of industrial salt is 69 yuan/ton. In addition, the price also stipulates that the service fee of China National Salt Industry Corporation is 0.6 yuan per ton of industrial salt (previously it was 0.2 yuan per ton of industrial salt). If the service charge of salt is added, it is about180,000 yuan per year. In the industrial salt price 1994 set in February, the intermediate circulation cost of salt remains at 59 yuan/ton.

According to reports, the difference between the ex-factory price and retail price of salt in Liaoning Province is very large. The ex-factory price of iodized salt is 266.6 yuan/ton, the retail price in the sales area is 800 yuan/ton, and the circulation price difference is 533.4 yuan. The ex-factory price of powder washing salt is 3 17.6 yuan/ton, the retail price in the sales area is 1200 yuan/ton, and the circulation price difference is 882.6 yuan. It is understood that the ex-factory price of refined iodized salt is generally 360 ~ 440 yuan/ton, and the retail price in urban areas is 1.400 ~ 1.700 yuan/ton, with a price difference of nearly 1,000 yuan, and the intermediate links are very profitable. Salt-making enterprises generally reflect that "managing salt is not as good as producing salt, and selling salt is not as good as managing salt".

In the industrial salt price 1995 formulated by the price department of a province in April, it is stipulated that "the sales service fee of each ton of 6 yuan in the appearance price shall be paid to the provincial salt company for unified use", and it is also stipulated that "the subsidy fund of salt price of each ton of 4 yuan in the appearance price shall be collected by the provincial salt bureau and stored in a special account" and "its expenditure shall be approved by the provincial price bureau". Some regions have similar regulations.

1994 when investigating the saline-alkali problem in a province, the state economic and trade commission found that the salt industry company of the province allocated 6 million yuan to the relevant power departments every year. In the investigation, we also learned that when two alkali-making enterprises are in arrears with the department's salt payment, the salt industry department will keep its own part of the expenses first, and then give the rest to the saltworks.

1995 May 18, Zhu Rongji, former deputy prime minister of the State Council, called relevant departments to study the management of industrial salt. Zhu Rongji pointed out: "The general guiding ideology of industrial salt management is to carry out reform in accordance with the principles of socialist market economy, introduce competition mechanism, and can no longer engage in planned economy." In view of the actual difficulties of large salt-making enterprises at that time, Zhu Rongji put forward three principled opinions: 1 Support the development of small salt-making plants and introduce competition mechanism while protecting large salt-making plants; The two alkali-making enterprises need150,000 tons of industrial salt every year, and about100,000 tons will be provided by the big saltworks. It will take the form of an order meeting, with direct connection between production and demand, reducing intermediate links and not raising local prices. Another 5 million tons can be supplied by small saltworks. The industrial salt required by a few departments and retail investors is supplied by the salt sales department. The amount of salt supplied by large and small salt fields is uncertain, which can be investigated according to the situation; The price of small saltworks is liberalized, while the price of large saltworks is protected, and the fluctuation is allowed through consultation between the supply and demand sides.

In this spirit, after many consultations, the State Planning Commission and the State Economic and Trade Commission, in line with the principles of being active, prudent and prudent, should not only separate government from enterprises according to the requirements of the market economy and introduce a competitive mechanism, but also take into account the current difficulties faced by large salt-making enterprises and take transitional protective measures to enable them to gradually enter the market and participate in the competition. And put forward the proposal of "Measures for Improving the Supply, Marketing and Price Management of Industrial Salt", which was approved by the State Council. And 1995, 1 1 In June, the State Planning Commission and the State Economic and Trade Commission issued the Notice on Improving the Measures for the Administration of Supply, Marketing and Price of Industrial Salt. This document clearly stipulates that "the current planned distribution of industrial salt will be changed to contract ordering under the guidance of the national total plan. That is to say, the current two alkali enterprises can only purchase one-on-one from the designated salt field (factory) according to the planned quantity, and the China Light Industry Association and the Ministry of Chemical Industry jointly organize an order meeting every year, so that the two alkali production enterprises can meet directly, choose in two directions, sign contracts and settle accounts directly, "cancel the existing industrial salt transportation license and transportation seal system, and both salt and alkali parties can apply for transportation plans from the transportation department according to the signed contracts"; Protect the order quantity and price of large salt-making enterprises ","Two alkali enterprises should order100000 tons of industrial salt from large salt-making enterprises at least according to the target quantity stipulated by the state every year "and" the state sets the protection price for this100000 tons of industrial salt "; The industrial salt for soda ash beyond100000 tons can be ordered directly from the small saltworks, and the price will be negotiated by both parties. " At the same time as the reform of industrial salt management system, the relevant competent departments are required to manage the salt market well, and the conditional saline-alkali enterprises are advocated to unite, share risks and benefits.

So far, the reform of industrial salt management system has made a breakthrough, and the dispute over salt and alkali price tax, which lasted for more than two years, has been alleviated.

When the relevant departments worked out the protection price of industrial salt, the salt industry department also suggested that the price of 1994 set by the national price department in February was "irregular" and "incomplete", and did not include some expenses incurred within the enterprise. The ex-factory price is only equivalent to the workshop cost of general enterprises, which needs to be re-approved.

1995165438+1At the end of October, the/kloc-0 1000000 tons industrial salt ordering meeting jointly organized by the former Light Industry Federation and the former Ministry of Chemical Industry was held as scheduled, but the price of salt did not drop. It was not until the afternoon of the opening of the fair that the national price department announced the protective price of 1996 100000 tons of industrial salt. The protection price is based on the standard price and fluctuates by 8%. The set protection price is higher than the salt price set in199465438+February, and also higher than the actual transaction price of saline-alkali enterprises before that. The highest price per ton of salt is more than 60 yuan higher than the actual transaction price, which is beyond the affordability of the two alkali enterprises. For example, Dalian Chemical Company, according to the protective price, will increase the cost by more than 20 million yuan, while the profit of the company 1994 is only more than 3 million yuan. The invisible hand of the law of value controls the ordering meeting. The price of salt is too high, so the two alkali enterprises passively wait and see and do not order. Salt-making enterprises can't adjust the salt price by themselves, so they have to sit in the "protection circle", and the small salt field is extremely active, which may push the two alkali enterprises to the small salt field. At the199611.0997 100000 tons of industrial salt ordering meeting, the national price authorities still announced the protection price on the opening day of the meeting. The protection price is maintained at the level of 1996. The delegates attending the ordering meeting strongly reflected the price policy of the national price department, thinking that it was not in line with reality and the law of value, and it was difficult to implement it.

At the two-year ordering meeting, there was a certain tacit understanding between saline-alkali enterprises on the protection price. The contract price signed at the meeting is for government departments to see, and the actual price is negotiable. Some salt fields in Hebei Province have also set rules to increase the road loss of 10% for salt enterprises, which is equivalent to reducing the salt price.

Before the 1997 annual trade fair, the salt industry department also proposed that the trade fair should implement a performance bond system, and both salt and alkali parties should pay 1 ton of industrial salt to their management departments, which was opposed by the Ministry of Chemical Industry. Therefore, the Salt Industry Association stepped forward (not an administrative act) to implement the performance bond system within the salt industry. The contract signed by the salt-making enterprises needs to pay a performance bond of 1 yuan per ton of salt, and pay it according to the pre-distribution plan, otherwise it is not allowed to participate in the order fair. If there is any default in the future, the enterprise will deduct it from the performance bond; The performance enterprise returns the bank interest of the same period every year, and the principal is carried forward to the next order meeting; If you don't attend the order fair next year, you will return the principal. All the salt-making enterprises that participated in the ordering meeting paid a certain deposit. Salt-making enterprises have a great reaction to this.

Representatives of saline-alkali enterprises attending the meeting lamented that why can't government pricing be practical? When can industrial salt really enter the market?

four

Since 1995, the reform of industrial salt management system has achieved certain results, and the combination of saline-alkali enterprises has also made great progress. However, the reform faces many obstacles.

-refusing to implement the spirit of the reform of industrial salt supply and marketing management system. Because the Regulations on Salt Industry Management promulgated by 1990 has a strong color of planned economy, although the State Planning Commission and the State Economic and Trade Commission issued documents on reforming the industrial salt management system, the Regulations on Salt Industry Management was not revised in time, and a few areas managed salt industry on this basis. For example, the government order issued by Beijing stipulates that "the industrial salt shall be managed in a planned way", and the salt company shall be designated by the Municipal Commercial Committee for unified operation. It is reported that the price of salt supplied by Beijing Pinggu Chemical General Factory is as high as one ton of 830 yuan, which is 4 10 yuan higher than that of 420 yuan purchased from other places. They met directly with foreign saltworks to sign contracts, but they were repeatedly seized and punished by the Beijing Salt Administration during the implementation process, which not only affected the normal production of enterprises, but also was not conducive to reducing production costs and enhancing competitiveness. Shougang and other major users of industrial salt have also encountered similar problems.

In the reform of industrial salt supply and marketing management system, it is clearly stipulated that "the system of quasi-transportation license and quasi-transportation seal for industrial salt should be abolished", but a few areas still cling to the privileges of "quasi-transportation license" and "quasi-transportation seal" for industrial salt transportation, just to put it another way. For example, it is stipulated in Jiangsu Province that "the industrial salt carrier certificate system shall be implemented in the transportation of industrial salt", and the competent department of salt industry shall "issue the industrial salt carrier certificate" and affix the special seal of Jiangsu Salt Administration Bureau to transport two alkali industrial salts, and implement the system of one vehicle (ship) and one certificate ". Sichuan and other places also implement management measures such as "release certificate", "special seal for salt transportation" and "off-site allocation certificate" for industrial salt transportation.

-misinterpreting the spirit of industrial salt supply and marketing management system reform. Explain the reform of industrial salt as the reform of "using salt for two alkalis"; For other industrial salts, "organized supply by salt companies" has become "monopoly" by salt companies, and even the salt used by the same enterprise is divided into "reformed salt" and "unreformed salt", and different price policies and management methods are implemented.

In the reform of industrial salt supply and marketing management system, considering the current difficulties of large-scale salt-making enterprises, the state adopted a transitional method of steady and gradual liberalization, stipulating that large-scale salt-making enterprises should be protected in terms of order quantity and price, and the two alkali enterprises should order at least 6,543,800 tons (about 2/3) of industrial salt from large-scale salt-making enterprises every year, regardless of geographical restrictions. Jiangsu Province stipulates that "two alkali-making enterprises enjoying fixed-point supply in the province must order 2/3 industrial salt at the protective price stipulated by the state from Jiangsu Salt Industry Company every year", otherwise "they shall not order industrial salt at the non-protective price13".

There are still contradictions and problems in the reform of industrial salt management system, which can only be solved by deepening reform. Fortunately, the reform of industrial salt management system has been welcomed by saline-alkali enterprises, won the hearts of the people and safeguarded the interests of saline-alkali enterprises. For three consecutive years, the 10000000 tons industrial salt ordering meeting has completed the mission of "transition period", the state stopped organizing the ordering meeting, and industrial salt orders began to turn into the normal order among saline-alkali enterprises.

For reference only, please learn by yourself.

I hope it helps you.

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