China scraps customs supervision charges to cut trade costs

BEIJING -- China will scrap customs supervision charges for foreign trade enterprises starting Oct 1 to ease their burdens amid faltering trade, according to a circular released Thursday by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission.

China will also exempt all outbound and inbound goods, as well as transport vehicles and containers, from inspection and quarantine fees from Oct 1 to Dec 31 this year, the circular said.

The MOF estimated that the latest policy will save foreign trade enterprises around 3.5 billion yuan ($550 million).

The move came after the State Council approved a raft of measures earlier this month to stabilize trade growth, including speeding up the export tax rebate process, reducing administrative costs for companies, lowering financing costs for small and micro-sized enterprises and increasing credit to qualified exporters.

In the January-August period, China's total foreign trade reached $2.5 trillion, an increase of 6.2 percent from last year but below the 10-percent full-year growth target set by the government for 2012.