(Yicai Global) Jan. 3 -- Updates to China's policy on foreign income tax credits aim to reduce Chinese companies' overseas tax burdens and promote foreign investment, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation said in a notice yesterday.

Systems in place provide country- and region-specific foreign tax credits, and China will add ones that are not location-dependent, the notice said.

Under the Corporate Income Tax Law that came into force in 2008, firms can offset their foreign income tax within country- and region-based limits.

The Belt and Road Initiative has encouraged overseas investments, and groups investing in several regions may face difficulties with the current system. China will allow taxpayers to choose between the current system and the new one, the notice said.

The policy aims to provide tax support for qualifying overseas income tax inside China to Chinese enterprises to reduce cooperate tax burdens, people from the departments said.