From 6 to 7 December 2025, the 2nd Fudan Tax Forum was successfully held in Shanghai. The forum was hosted by the School of Economics of Fudan University and the Fudan Public Economics Research Center, with Shanghai ForTran Law Firm serving as a co-host. Themed “Digital Taxation, Global Tax Reform, and China’s Tax System Reform under the 15th Five-Year Plan”, the forum brought together more than one hundred scholars and practitioners from universities, tax authorities, professional institutions, and enterprises to discuss frontier issues in contemporary tax policy and administration.

During the keynote session, Ryan Yan, Partner at ForTran Law Firm, was invited to deliver a featured presentation. Drawing on representative anti-avoidance cases, Mr. Yan highlighted the fundamental importance of tax certainty. He observed that current anti-avoidance enforcement in China is increasingly shifting from formalistic review toward substance-based analysis. To prevent the excessive exercise of administrative discretion, he emphasized the need to render principles such as the requirement for commercial reasons reflecting economic reality more objective through clearer and more operational rules, thereby enhancing predictability and stability in market expectations.

At the parallel forum on “Tax System Reform under the 15th Five-Year Plan”, Ben Lu, Partner at ForTran Law Firm, participated in a thematic panel discussion alongside experts from academia and practice. The discussion focused on key reform topics including the optimization of China’s tax structure, comprehensive reform of individual income tax and the strengthening of its redistributive function, further improvement of the VAT regime, and the design of tax policies responsive to emerging business models. Participants broadly agreed that tax reform during the 15th Five-Year Plan period should adopt a systemic approach, reinforced by the rule of law and data-driven governance, to better support national development strategies and high-quality economic growth.

Spanning two days, the forum featured forward-looking topics and dynamic exchanges of views. As a co-hosting institution, ForTran Law Firm remains closely engaged with developments in tax policy and enforcement practice and actively participates in dialogue between academia and the profession. Its active participation in the Fudan Tax Forum reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to deepening substantive research and contributing to professional knowledge exchange. Looking ahead, ForTran will continue to collaborate with universities, institutions, and industry partners to deliver forward-looking and practical tax legal services to its clients.