Sinovac Biotech Ltd. announced today that the Chinese government, led by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, jointly granted the Company's operating subsidiary, Sinovac Biotech Co. Ltd.(Sinovac Beijing), high-tech enterprise status. According to the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China, Sinovac Beijing has received recognition to benefit from a 15 percent tax rate, down from a 25 percent tax rate. Sinovac Beijing will benefit from the lower tax rate for a three-year validation period, covering 2008, 2009 and 2010. Currently, all benefits of Sinovac are sourced from Sinovac Beijing
According to the China Banking Regulatory Commission Guiding Opinions Number 94, companies with high-tech status are eligible for numerous potential benefits including, preferential treatment in obtaining other support from the government, competitive commercial bank loans and subsidized interest.
Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac Biotech Ltd., commented, "Receipt of high-tech enterprise status reflects Sinovac's continued strength and progress in fundamental areas such as the research and development and vaccine commercialization. As a high-tech enterprise, Sinovac is poised to benefit from substantially increased government support that provides us with financial flexibility as we maintain solid growth. We are very pleased to be granted this esteemed status and are well positioned to continue to build shareholder value."
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a China-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases. Sinovac's commercialized vaccines include Healive(R) (hepatitis A), Bilive(R) (combined hepatitis A and B), Anflu(R) (influenza) and Panflu(TM) (H5N1). Sinovac is currently developing a Universal Pandemic Influenza vaccine and Japanese encephalitis vaccine. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tangshan Yian is currently conducting field trials for the first domestically-developed inactivated animal rabies vaccines.