The Chinese mainland will exempt trade tariffs on all products made in Hong Kong and Macao before next year, a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce announced in Chengdu Monday.

The trade tariffs are expected to be abolished before January 1, 2006 and more service sectors will be opened to Hong Kong and Macao's investors, Chen Jian, assistant minister of Commerce, confirmed at the high-ranking officials session of the second Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum.

The move is part of the initiative reached by the authorities of the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao during the third stage of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) negotiations, said Chen.

Since CEPA took effect at the beginning of last year, the mainland has exempted tariffs on 1,108 Hong Kong products and 509 Macao products, nearly covering all of their production categories. The mainland also opened up 26 service industries to Hong Kong and Macao, according to the official.

By the end of June 2005, the total value of "zero tariff" commodities from Hong Kong and Macao to the mainland amounted to 1.86 billion Hong Kong dollars (238 million US dollars), which means a tariff cut of some 130 million yuan (16 million US dollars).

Chen pointed out that the further development of CEPA will provide more business opportunities for nine provinces and regionsin the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, Hong Kong and Macao and each will benefit from the complementary cooperation in terms of resources, market and managerial expertise.

Source: Xinhua