Chinese
In September of this year, the 175000 cubic meter LNG (liquefied natural gas) transport ship "Haiyun", independently designed and built by Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, was officially named and delivered, marking Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry's entry into the ranks of the world's few shipbuilding companies with the ability to construct large LNG transport ships.
Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is the main base for ship assembly, construction, and maintenance support in China, creating over 90 firsts in the history of shipbuilding in the country. The first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, and the first domestically produced aircraft carrier, the Shandong, both sailed from here towards the ten thousand mile sea border. As of now, the group's shipbuilding orders have been scheduled until the second half of 2028, with LNG carriers and ultra large oil tankers accounting for over 50% of the global market share.
From the depths of history, after 127 years of development and changes, how did this century old shipping company achieve industry leadership? Song Yang, Deputy Chief Accountant and Minister of Financial Planning Department of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, believes that "integrity is the 'sail', and compliance is the 'oar'. In shipbuilding, we uphold craftsmanship, insist that our products must be of high quality, and our operations must comply with regulations
Taking large LNG transport ships as an example, they require high technical standards and are extremely difficult to construct. The cargo enclosure system of the cargo hold, namely the isolation barrier and thermal insulation system of the cargo hold, is the core of the construction of large LNG transport ships, requiring ultra-high construction accuracy and quality standards. The installation accuracy of each process during the construction process is controlled at the millimeter level, and even a slight body swing by workers during operation may result in substandard products.
How to ensure product quality? Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry has always incorporated the concept of "building a solid and compliant infrastructure with the rule of law" into its corporate culture and business philosophy, refined and established a compliance system, and implemented it through lean management, ensuring both product quality and management standards.
Song Yang introduced that Lean Management is a framework management system built by Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, focusing on optimizing processes, eliminating waste, reducing costs and improving efficiency, with the production and manufacturing process as the core. It runs through the entire process of research and development design, production and manufacturing, marketing and after-sales, financial and tax management, etc. According to the requirements of lean management, enterprises continuously optimize their financial and tax management processes, while minimizing tax risks and improving management efficiency, promoting the continuous improvement of their compliance management level.
The shipbuilding industry belongs to the special equipment manufacturing industry, characterized by long production cycles, cross period revenue recognition, and complex cost accounting, which increases the difficulty of accounting and management. We do not have the motivation to evade taxes, but we may not be able to eliminate omissions in our work. Therefore, we always emphasize tax compliance and continuously strengthen refined financial management. "Song Yang introduced that the group's finance department has set up a tax specialist position to ensure that there is a dedicated person responsible for every link such as financial accounting, invoice issuance verification, tax declaration, etc., to achieve standardized handling of every tax related matter and compliant payment of every tax payment.
In Song Yang's view, the tax department plays an important guiding and supporting role in promoting compliance management and operation of enterprises. The tax department of Dalian city has tailored tax and fee policy guidelines for the manufacturing and shipping industry to help enterprises comply with tax policies and effectively avoid tax risks. Song Yang said that Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry will actively pay a total of 800 million yuan in various taxes in 2024.
In recent years, Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry has increasingly pursued excellence in compliance management. It has established a compliance committee led by the Party Secretary and Chairman, issued the "Compliance Management Measures", formulated a list of 1939 internal and external compliance standards, and built a new model of "three in one" control of law, compliance, and risk.
In terms of financial management, Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry not only sets up tax specialized positions, but also strengthens the management of tax related matters of member enterprises through internal control systems, business training, specific risk control, and hiring professional institutions for evaluation. Especially for major issues such as the integration of member enterprises, asset restructuring, disposal, and acquisition, the group has set up a dedicated task force to conduct tax policy research and ensure compliance and application of policies. As a member enterprise of the Thousand Household Group of the tax department, the group actively adapts to the digital transformation and changes in tax management, and has integrated into the tax department's Leqi platform, achieving comprehensive electronic invoicing and use of invoices. The level of digital intelligence in tax management has been greatly improved.
Compliance management has greatly benefited Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry. Because the credit rating has always been maintained at A level, foreign shipowners highly recognize the corporate compliance management system when conducting specialized due diligence on Dalian Shipbuilding Industry's compliance management during the process of accepting overseas orders. In addition, a good tax credit rating also serves as an endorsement for enterprises to obtain special subsidies, which is an undeniable bonus.
The development goal of Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is to build a century old foundation and create world-class products. Song Yang stated that the group will continue to place compliance management in a prominent position in accordance with the requirements of accelerating the construction of a world-class management system, demonstrating more the responsibility of shipbuilding enterprises and better establishing a compliance benchmark for central enterprises. (Reporter Cheng Lihua)
Transferred from: China Tax Journal