Yes, they are paying reduced rate until end of 2023, therafter revert back to normal rate of 25% corporate tax.
Elon Musk seem happy with his China investment, after the orignal $5 billion, he plans to pour in more money into his China business and set up new R&D centre there. Further Win-Win for Tesla and China.
Positive contribution of Tesla to China.
1) Help to contribute a highly competitive environment for China's EV development, thereby setting a high standard of made in China EV quality which all manufacturers will have to achieve which will benefit the end-users.
2) Local sourcing of component parts from Chinese suppliers, contributing to other local economy like service industry, land transport, sea port, marine shipping etc and employment.
3) Training of local workforce and knowledge dissipation to local employees of Tesla, and ultimately the whole EV industry in China.
4) setting an example for other foreign high tech companies to follow on direct investment in China, setting up plants and R&D centres. Increase attractiveness of FDI in China.
(Yicai Global) Jan. 28 -- Thirty-seven companies, including US automaker Tesla and Chinese artificial intelligence unicorn SenseTime, have become the first in the Lingang New Area of Shanghai’s free trade zone to benefit from a lower rate of corporate income tax.
They will pay income tax at 15 percent instead of the statutory 25 percent for three to five years, the Lingang Special Area Administrative Committee said in a statement earlier this week.California-based Tesla, which built its first overseas factory in Lingang, will have its tax rate slashed until Dec. 21, 2023, Yicai Global learned.
Shanghai’s government announced the preferential tax policy in August 2019 to help Lingang, then newly added to the FTZ, to attract firms in the key fields of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, civil aviation, and integrated circuits.