Most of these companies were said to have owed more than 100,000 yuan (about HK$93,700) of taxes and had allegedly refused to pay them, the report said.

More than 40 overseas-invested companies had evaded more than 100 million yuan of taxes to the Shenzhen government, the department was quoted as saying.

The amount accounted for 25 per cent of the taxes owed in Shenzhen.

Tough action was planned for the offenders, including banning them from leaving the country, freezing their personal assets and bank accounts and possibly auctioning their personal property.

Shenzhen's tax department intends to step up the effort to crack down on widespread tax evasion among enterprises. It has created a work format to 'pester the offenders once every three days and send a report every week' to collect tax.

In the early 1980s, the city introduced favourable tax policies for overseas enterprises to attract foreign investment.

According to Li Lingen, head of the overseas enterprise department, overseas enterprises enjoy more of such favourable policies than domestic ones.

Under the World Trade Organisation entry agreement, domestic and overseas enterprises should receive equal treatment and foreign firms are expected to lose their privileges after a few years. This may cause discomfort to foreign enterprises accustomed to preferential policies.

The Shenzhen government has banned local media from following up on the news after the list was published by the Shenzhen Legal Daily.

'We have received criticism from the municipal government saying that we have gone too far.

'They are worried it might make some people unhappy,' Mr Li said.