China may soon cut tax rebates for exports of textiles, garments and long chemical fibres in a further move to trim trade surplus, the China Securities Journal reported on Friday.

Rebates for textiles could be lowered to 9 percent from 11 percent while those for garments could fall to 9 percent from 13 percent now, the paper said, citing unidentified sources.

The authorities were likely to lower rebates for long chemical fibres to 5 percent from 9 percent, it said.

Late last month, the same paper cited unidentified sources as saying that rebates for garment exports could be lowered to 11 percent from April 15.

Last year, China lowered export tax rebates on textiles to 11 percent from 13 percent.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner, was thrashing out details with the ministries of commerce and finance, Friday's paper said.

The plan had been fuelling opposition from the China National Textile and Apparel Council, an industry association that has lobbied to keep tax rebates as they are, it added.

Policy makers have expressed growing concerns over the country's trade surplus, which has frayed the nerves of key trading partners like the United States and flooded the domestic banking system with too much liquidity.

The country's trade surplus hit US$46.44 billion in the first quarter after rising 74 percent in 2006 to US$177.47 billion.

On Tuesday, Beijing said it would remove or reduce export rebates on a wide range steel products as part of its efforts to rely less on exports as a motor of economic growth.

Source link:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/13/content_850300.htm

Quoting from [Elaine Dai]: