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(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-11 10:01

Continuous growth in tax revenues is reminiscent of strong economic dynamism.

The country's top 500 taxpayers alone paid more than 774 billion yuan (US$101.84 billion) last year. That was more than one-fifth of the national total.

In addition to the vibrant state of our soaring economy, the top-500 list also shows a delicate change in its structure. The tertiary industry now constitutes a larger share in aggregate tax contribution of the top 500, gaining more than 6 percentage points to almost reach 24 percent.

That is something to celebrate. But a closer look at the list reminds us there is a lot more to be desired.

It is actually worrisome when we find out who are the main tax generators. In the top 10 tax payers of 2006, there were four in the oil industry and three in tobacco. On the top-500 list, 174 are in such areas as oil, natural gas, and coal. Most of them have been on the list since it was created. And tobacco remains the biggest taxpayer.

Nearly half of the top 500 are in the above two categories. That is something to worry about.

In the first place, their profits are based more on monopoly status than on competitive advantages. They are beneficiaries of State monopoly over strategic resources.

Their rapid growth is a double-edged sword - on one hand, they yield handsome tax incomes; on the other, their prosperity reveals our economy's addictive dependence on resource input.

The tobacco money is especially so, because it is associated with an obvious public health disaster. We are the world's No 1 tobacco consuming country. We see the biggest number of tobacco-related deaths. The dozens of tobacco firms at the top 500 roster are a grim reminder of the unhealthy structure of our tax revenues.

The government wants an ever-increasing supply of tax money to advance public welfare. But it does no good if such growth is achieved at the price of environmental degeneration, resource depletion, or public health.