China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has set up 12 local monitoring offices to study the impact of switching from a business tax to a value-added tax (VAT) on local economies and enterprises.

From early April to the end of 2013, the surveys will monitor at least 10 enterprises in each of the pilot industries, the ministry said.

On April 10, the State Council, China's cabinet, decided to expand its VAT reform to the entire country from August 1. It hopes to complete the reform by the end of 2015.

China introduced the reform in Shanghai last year to avoid double taxation. It was later expanded to another 11 regions, including Beijing and Tianjin, and Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province.

By February 1, the program had saved over 1 million taxpayers more than 40 billion yuan ($6.47 billion) in taxes, according to the MOF.