Shanghai Tax Authorities Tailor Services to the Artificial Intelligence Industry

Shanghai's tax authorities have recently focused their efforts on the artificial intelligence industry. In the first half, Shanghai's GDP grew 5.6 percent year on year and manufacturing output of the three leading industries rose 14.5 percent, with AI manufacturing output growth reaching 21.8 percent, faster than 19.2 percent in the first quarter. Zhong Huiyong, an associate researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Antai College of Economics and Management and the China Development Institute, said the acceleration reflects a concentrated release after long-term accumulation of multiple conditions, and that tax authorities played a part. He Xiaoyan, tax director at Ant Group, said that with coaching from tax, science and technology authorities last year, the company completed specialist innovation evaluations of 20 high-risk projects at three of its R&D companies, resolving filing, ownership and transaction risks in advance; Ant's smart pharmacy human-machine solution has now reached some Guoda Drugstore outlets in Shanghai. Quectel, a smart terminal maker, has drawn attention for its AI plus AR glasses and, guided by tax authorities, built an end-to-end compliance system with separate R&D ledgers and accounting to clearly separate R&D from production costs. A Shanghai tax official said the department will keep watching AI industry trends, improving tax and fee services and policy delivery, and guiding technology companies to stay compliant while focusing on core innovation.