Steps taken by State Council to reduce taxes and fees

6. Cutting bank card transaction fees

A Chinese woman shows credit cards and other bank cards in Qionghai city, south China's Hainan province, April 14 2012. [Photo/IC]

China's central bank said in March that it will cut the fees merchants pay for bank card transactions. The action, to take effect on Sept 6, will result in a 7.4 billion yuan ($1.14 billion) cut in the fees merchants pay in a year, the People's Bank of China said on its website.

Under the coming policy, card-issuing banks cannot charge merchants more than 0.35 percent of a transaction amount for debit cards, while credit card transactions cannot incur a charge exceeding 0.45 percent of the amount swiped.