(Yicai) Dec. 22 -- China will temporarily cut import taxes on 1,010 goods and adjust preferential tariffs from Jan. 1 next year, according to customs authorities.

Medicines, raw materials, intermediate products, components, key equipment, parts that are in short supply in the country, such as lithium chloride, low-arsenic fluorite, and gas diffusion layers for fuel cells, and others will enjoy preferential import tariff rates lower than the most-favored nation tariff rates, including zero import taxes on some drugs to treat cancer and rare diseases and lower import taxes on some medical formulas, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced yesterday.

China will lower the tariff rates on some commodities from next year under free and preferential trade agreements signed with 30 countries, the Customs Tariff Commission noted. China will continue to give zero-tariff treatment to 43 of the least developed countries, but it will no longer provide such treatment to Vanuatu.

The adjustments are conducive to stabilizing foreign trade, promoting high-level opening-up, and facilitating the transformation and upgrading of industries to actively participate in international competition, the Customs Tariff Commission said.

Lowering tariffs on key materials for new energy vehicles can help carmakers reduce production costs while promoting the development of the NEV industry, said Huang Yonghe, chief expert at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Editor: Futura Costaglione