Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said here Monday China has honored almost all of the tariff cuts it committed to on its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) three years ago.

Jin, also director of the Tariff Rule Committee of the State Council, said the committee announced its latest tariff reduction plan for 2005 earlier this month, bringing the country's overall tariff from 10.4 percent in 2004 to 9.9 percent in 2005.

The move involves readjustment of more than 900 tariffs, and indicates the Chinese government is fully committed to its promiseand responsibilities, Jin said.

This is the last round of significant tariff cuts China has made to honor its commitments, he said.

Its tariff level has been dropping by an annual average of one percentage point since its WTO entry in 2001, which has been applauded by the international community, the minister said.

According to the plan, the average tariff rate for farm producewill be reduced from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.3 percent as from 2005, while the average one for manufacture goods will be lowered from 9.5 percent to 9 percent.

The tariff rate readjustment has been made in accordance with China's WTO commitments, the tariff agreements China has signed with other countries or regions, the requirements of the country'smacro-economic control policies and the need to regulate its exports and imports, said Jin.

The minister said the tariff reduction has proved helpful to the stable and healthy economic development, promotion of economiccooperation and trade between China and other countries, and the full use of external resources and markets by domestic firms for improved efficiency and quality of their products.

Lower tariffs for machinery and electronic goods have been goodfor domestic firms to import advanced overseas equipment for technological upgrading so as to improve international competitiveness of their products, he explained.

He said tariff reduction has been one of the major factors behind the country's fast and sustained growth in foreign trade inthe past three years.

China's annual foreign trade exceeded 1 trillion US dollars this year, and the country's economy has integrated with the global economy, which has broadened the country's tax base, he added.

China's tax revenues from the foreign trade had grown from 249.2 billion yuan (30.3 billion US dollars) in 2001 to 259.1 billion yuan (31.5 billion US dollars) in 2002 and 371.2 billion yuan (45.2 billion US dollars) in 2003. They reached 433.44 billion yuan (52.8 billion US dollars) in the first 11 months of this year.

The minister said the figure for 2005 will be more than the estimated 470 billion yuan (57.3 billion US dollars) for this year.

Jin said consumers on the Chinese mainland will benefit from the tariff cuts, as many imported goods will be cheaper due to lower tariffs, such as cars, cosmetics, liquor, wine and clothes.

The tariff for liquor and wine will be cut from 19.2 percent to10 percent, he said.

Digital cameras, household integrated video cameras, furniture and toys will have no tariff next year, he said.

China will lower tariffs on such products as livestock feed, farm chemicals and fertilizer that China has in short supply.

The country will also lower tariffs on 602 items from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year tohonor its arrangements for China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, he said.

From July 1, 2005, China will continue to lower tariffs on moreASEAN products to promote regional economic integration.

It will also lower tariffs on 917 categories of products from members of the Bangkok Agreement and Pakistan, and continue to implement zero tariff to some products from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Bangladesh, four of Asia's least developed countries, he said.

The minister said China will offer zero tariff to selected products from 27 of the least developed African countries in 2005.

More goods from Hong Kong and Macao will have no tariffs, bringing their categories of products that enjoy zero tariff treatment from 729 and 191 to 1,108 and 509, respectively.

Source: Xinhua