China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

China

China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

2024-12-28 17:04 Last Updated At：20:07

China will adjust the import tariff rates and items on certain goods starting from Jan. 1, 2025, in an effort to expand domestic demand and advance high-standard opening up, authorities announced Saturday.

Provisional import tariffs, lower than the most-favored-nation rates, will be applied to 935 commodities next year as part of the annual tariff adjustment plan. This plan "will help increase the imports of quality products," according to a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

In order to support the development of new quality productive forces led by sci-tech innovation, the import tariffs on cycloolefin polymers, ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, and automatic transmissions for special-purpose vehicles such as fire trucks and repair vehicles will be reduced; In order to improve people's livelihood, the import tariffs on sodium zirconium cyclosilicate for medicine, viral vectors for CAR-T tumor therapy, and nickel-titanium alloy wires for surgical implants will be reduced; In order to promote green and low-carbon development, the import tariffs on ethane and some recycled copper and aluminum raw materials will be reduced.

In order to expand the global high-standard free trade zone network, China will implement agreed tariff rates on some imported goods originating from 34 countries or regions in 2025, under the guidance of 24 free trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements.

The announcement said that to support the least developed countries, the 43 least-developed countries with diplomatic relations with China will benefit from zero tariffs on 100 percent of the items imported by China.

In 2025, China will also continue to implement preferential tariffs on some imported goods originating from Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in accordance with the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement and the intergovernmental exchange of notes between China and relevant ASEAN member states.

"Actively building a global free trade zone network is a manifestation of our commitment as a major country to uphold the multilateral trade system and WTO rules. We will promote the world to further develop towards globalization and multilateralism to serve the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," said Gao Lingyun, a research fellow with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Exhibition of Chang'e-5 lunar sampling opens to public

2024-12-28 19:25 Last Updated At：19:37

An exhibition featuring Chang'e-5 lunar samples was open to the public in Beijing on Saturday.

In December 2020, the Chang'e-5 probe brought back the country's first samples collected from the moon, which marked a successful conclusion to China's three-step lunar exploration program of orbiting, landing and returning samples, which began in 2004.

"It is the first time in the country that a long-term science exhibition has been held on the theme of lunar soil sampling and groundbreaking research by Chinese scientists. We have visualized a large amount of scientific research data of the lunar sampling for popular science display, striving to make the exhibition scientific, artistic and highly valuable for science popularization," said Lin Xiao, deputy head of the Beijing Planetarium.

In addition to 0.6 grams of lunar soil brought back by the Chang'e-5, the exhibition also showcases moon rocks collected by Apollo 17 and lunar meteorites from Northwest Africa, offering valuable insights into the moon's formation and evolution.

"Chang'e stone," a new mineral discovered and named from the Chang'e-5 lunar samples is also on display at the exhibition. It is the first new lunar mineral discovered by Chinese scientists and the sixth overall discovered by humanity.

"China is vigorously developing planetary science, which is a comprehensive discipline and manifestation of national strength. The carefully selected landing area of the Chang'e-5, the meticulous research on the lunar samples brought back by the mission, and the research results have contributed to a vastly improved understanding of mineral species over the Apollo era. There are 6,000 kinds of minerals on the Earth and only about 100 on the moon. It's very difficult to discover a new mineral on the moon that we don't have on the Earth, so this is a very important discovery," said Li Qiuli, researcher with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).