China would have almost honored its tariff cut commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in full with the reduction of import tariffs on over 100 categories of products next year, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said in Beijing Thursday.

China announced on Tuesday it will further cut import tariffs on more than 100 categories of products beginning Jan. 1, 2006, involving vegetable oil, raw chemical materials, automobiles and parts.

The latest move indicates China has fulfilled most of the obligations it promised to before its 2001 WTO entry, with continuous big tariff cuts, said the minister, also chairman of the the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

The import tariff rate for sedans, mini-buses and cross-country vehicles will be lowered from the current 30 percent to 28 percent next year, while that for auto parts such as gear boxes, absorbers, radiators, clutches and steering gears will be reduced from to 13.5 percent to 10 percent, Jin said.

The tariff rate for cosmetics will be cut from 16 percent to 12.8 percent, while import quotas for soybean oil, palm oil and rapeseed oil will be removed with the rate of import tariffs on them set at 9 percent.

Since China has fulfilled most of its tariff reduction obligations, the latest plan will not have a big impact on China's overall tariff level, he said.

China's overall level of import tariffs will remain at 9.9 percent in 2006, compared with 10.4 percent in 2004.

The average import tariff will be 15.2 percent for farm produce and 9.0 percent for industrial goods.

Source: Xinhua