Import Data News
- Nation scraps some import licenses
Date: 29-Mar-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE country will soon allow companies to freely import a wide range of steel materials and other products as part of efforts to shrink its huge trade surplus, State press reported yesterday.
From April, Chinese firms will no longer need to apply for import licenses for 338 product categories, including steel plates and slabs, plastic materials and some machinery and electronic products, the China Daily said.
The relaxation of import license administration marks the latest attempt by the government to rein in the country's widening trade surplus.
'It's one of the substantial measures the commerce ministry is making this year to facilitate imports,'said an official who asked not to be named.
To prevent the trade surplus from widening, the government has taken a series of measures to encourage imports and restructure exports.
From late last year, China began to scrap or lower the export tax rebate rates on some energy-intensive and polluting products.
In April, the country will also open an imports section at the Canton Fair, China's largest trade event.
Despite these efforts by the government, China still saw its trade surplus triple to US$39.64 billion in the first two months of this year.
Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng on Monday said the impact of the measures to cut the trade surplus will show later. 'I think things will change in the coming months as import-encouraging and trade-facilitating measures take effect,'he said.
He added that it's impossible to achieve an absolute balance in trade in the coming years because of the country's huge trade figures.
He noted that although China has a mounting trade surplus with some economies, such as the United States and the European Union, domestic firms don't profit as much since most of it is taken by foreign investors.
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