China collected a net amount of 474.405 billion yuan in customs tariff and import linkage tax nationwide in 2004, up103.249 billion yuan year on year, or 27.82 percent, as known from the recent national meeting of customs heads.

Mou Xinsheng, commissioner of the General Administration of Customs, attributed the sharp increase of customs income in successive years to three reasons. First, macro-control measures made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council played their role. We achieved a sustained, rapid, coordinated and sound economic development in the year 2004, which drove forward the high-speed growth of foreign trade, with import scale exceeding 500 billion US dollars for the first time to reach 561.38 billion dollars, a growth of 36 percent. Large increase in the value of dutiable goods and the price of major imported commodities were main causes of higher customs income. Second, customs nationwide kept clamping down on smuggling and efficiently completed the task of tax collection. Third, the import/export behavior of enterprises was regulated and their awareness about paying taxes by law was strengthened.

By People's Daily Online