China will honour its Free Trade Area agreements with its trading partners, levy negotiated tariffs on some Indian goods and will also offer special preferential tariff rates to about 30 least developing countries next year, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said.
Zero import tariff rates will be applied to "early harvest" products made by the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as of 2006 according to the China-ASEAN free trade area agreement, said Jin, also chairman of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, Chinese cabinet.
China will impose negotiated tariff rates on 928 products manufactured in India, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Laos according to its commitment upon its signature on the Bangkok Agreement, he said.
China will also impose agreed tariff rates on 2,244 categories of products originating from Pakistan according to its "early harvest" arrangement for the Sino-Pakistan free trade area deal.
Products from Hong Kong and Macao, both Special Administrative Regions of China, will enjoy zero import tariff rates as from 2006 according to the arrangement between the mainland and the two special administrative regions for closer economic relations.
"We will offer zero tariff rates to some products from about 30 least developing countries, such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Bangladesh and Sudan to honour the commitments made by Chinese President Hu Jintao at a United Nations summit meeting in September," he said.
"We are also considering giving similar treatment to some products from other least developing countries," Jin was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, Jin also said that the government would continue to regulate economic development through changes in tariff rates next year to support the country's development strategy.
He said priorities will be given to agriculture and rural development, independent innovation by the corporate world, advanced manufacturing sector and building of a resource-efficient society.
China will impose lower provisional import tariff rates on products in short supply, such as feed, breeders and intermediates for farm chemicals, he said.
Lower import tariff rates will be imposed on raw materials for electronics, chemicals and information sectors and key parts for equipment building sector to encourage independent innovation by the corporate world, he said.
China will also apply lower import tariff rates on mineral products that are in short supply in the country, such as choke coal, alumina, apatite.
The minister said China will maintain the provisional export tariff on energy-intensive, polluting products, such as electrolysed aluminium, while abolishing the export tariff on highly purified aluminium and aluminium alloy made of recycled aluminium.
