New enterprises in state-level high-tech industrial parks will enjoy a two-year exemption of corporate income tax beginning from the year they make profit, said a Chinese financial official on Friday.

The exemption, aimed to spur enterprises' enthusiasm and investment for innovation, will be granted only after "strict" approval, said Zhang Shaochun, assistant to the Minister of Finance, at a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual session of China's top legislature.

After the two-year exemption, these high-tech enterprises can also enjoy a preferential income tax rate of 15 percent, compared to 33 percent for other enterprises, the official said.

Enhance the innovation capability of Chinese enterprises is listed on the top agenda of a five-year blueprint for national economic and social development up to 2010, which was submitted to the legislature's annual session for deliberation and approval opened here on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2006)