Global Tax 50 2016: Lou Jiwei

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Global Tax 50 2016: Lou Jiwei

Former Chinese minister of finance and G20 chair

Lou Jiwei

Lou Jiwei was also in the Global Tax 50 2013

Lou Jiwei, one of China's most outspoken and well-respected politicians, made a monumental development when he proposed a new international taxation system to tackle tax avoidance at the annual G20 summit in the Chinese city of Chengdu in 2016. Lou, who was appointed as the minister of finance in March 2013, also held a central position transitioning China from a business tax to a VAT regime, which was completed in May 2016. This wins him a spot in the Global Tax 50 as one of the most influential people in tax.

For many years, China's indirect tax system was split, with VAT applying to the goods sectors, and business tax applying to the services sectors. Since 2012, China has embarked on a journey to change this system and replace the business tax with VAT, with the final sectors transitioning from business tax to VAT nationwide on May 1 2016.

"When fully implemented, China's VAT system will be one of the broadest-based systems among more than 160 countries in the world which have now implemented a VAT or equivalent tax," KPMG China's Khoonming Ho and Lewis Lu told International Tax Review in April.

Lou inadvertently caused quite the stir when he was axed from his role as finance minister and replaced by bureaucrat Xiao Jie in November, two years before his term ended. While Lou was unlikely to be reappointed when the next term began in 2018, there was no explanation as to why the outspoken reformist was replaced, but news reports suggested that this happened because of the global concern over China's economic slowdown. But before his sudden departure, he made an impact at the G20 meeting, where he said that the G20 should play a leading role in improving the international tax governance and support the development of a new international tax system.

"[The] G20 should continuously expand and deepen international tax coordination and cooperation, and support the development of a new international tax system which is fair, equal, inclusive and organised," Lou said.

The Global Tax 50 2016

View the full list and introduction

The top 10 • Ranked in order of influence

1. Margrethe Vestager

2. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

3. Brexit

4. Arun Jaitley

5. Jacob Lew

6. Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet

7. Operation Zealots

8. Guy Verhofstadt

9. Theresa May (and the 'three Brexiteers')

10. Donald Trump

The remaining 40 • In alphabetic order

Kemi Adeosun

Piet Battiau

Elise Bean

Monica Bhatia

Allison Christians

Tim Cook

Rita de la Feria

Caroline Flint

Judith Freedman

Chrystia Freeland

Pravin Gordhan

Orrin Hatch

Meg Hillier

Mulyani Indrawati

Lou Jiwei

Paul Johnson

Stephanie Johnston

Chris Jordan

Pravind Jugnauth

Wang Jun

Jean-Claude Juncker

Kathleen Kerrigan

Christine Lagarde

Werner Langen

Jolyon Maugham

Angela Merkel

Narendra Modi

Will Morris

Michael Noonan

Grace Perez-Navarro

Platform for the Collaboration on Tax

Donato Raponi

Pascal Saint-Amans

Heather Self

Robert Stack

Tax Justice Network

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Transparency International

US Committee on Ways and Means

Rodrigo Valdés

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Foreign remittance requirements put additional administrative burden on Indian law firms and strain their relationship with foreign associate firms, according to practitioners
She will formally take over the leadership of the private client firm in July next year, succeeding the veteran Margaret Robertson
Turley will succeed the veteran Grant Wardell-Johnson on Wednesday, October 1
It’s not all doom and gloom for the firm as it seeks to bounce back from the tax leaks controversy, but transparency and trust are still major issues
A tax lawyer accused the firm’s Washington DC head of sexual assault; in other news, e-invoicing will reportedly generate an additional €111 million in VAT revenue
A lack of technical tax knowledge among advisers will render AI use ineffective, ITR’s AI in Tax Forum also heard
Advisers say Spanish taxpayers will have to reexamine how they finance themselves following TP litigation that went all the way to the country's Supreme Court
AI automation in the tax agency has supported around 13 million transactions in 2024/25 and freed up the equivalent of around 400 full-time staff, David Johnson said
Shelley compares tax law to philosophy, shares best practices to get the most out of the working day, and reveals his alternate life as a teacher in Japan
Partners Sebastian Diehl and Martin Seevers reveal why the firm set up in London and discuss the city’s growing demand for German legal expertise
Gift this article