A program discussing support measures launched by Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, to help agricultural products expand their sales channels, premiered on CCTV-2, the State broadcaster's finance and economics channel, on Aug 26.

The Gaozhou taxation bureau relies on tax big data platforms in Guangdong province to help enterprises coordinate upstream and downstream production and marketing channels to expand sales of agricultural products and assist in the city's poverty alleviation efforts.

Gaozhou Guoliuxiang Pomegranate Specialized Cooperatives is a key poverty alleviation enterprise in Yuntan town with a pomegranate cultivation area of more than 1,000 mu (66.67 hectares).

Since 2017, the enterprise has helped lift more than 100 local impoverished households out of poverty by providing farmers with pomegranate seedlings, technical guidance, and jobs. The current average annual income among poverty-stricken households now exceeds 20,000 yuan ($2,903.48).

A program on Gaozhou's support measures for agricultural products is aired on CCTV-2 on Aug 26. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]

However, due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the enterprise's pomegranate sales have been struggling.

The Gaozhou taxation bureau helped the enterprise reach a cooperation agreement with a poverty alleviation e-commerce enterprise and a pomegranate processing enterprise through tax big data platforms, and also informed it of applicable tax and fee reduction policies.

"The helpful actions of the taxation bureau have made us feel at ease. One metric ton of pomegranates have been sold over the past five days," said Wen Jinling, the legal representative of the enterprise.

Gaozhou, known as the "No 1 fruit county in the country", is rich in fruit like lychees, longans, and bananas. There are a total of 650 agriculture-related enterprises in the city.

In the first seven months of this year, the bureau has helped agriculture-related enterprises handle 17.75 million yuan in export tax refunds.