China to adjust some customs duties

BEIJING - China will adjust some of its customs duties on Jan 1, 2014 to aid economic restructuring and achieve balanced trade growth, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

Tariffs on some 760 imported commodities will be lowered by an average of 60 percent, the ministry said.

The commodities range from devices for emerging industries such as aero-engines to natural grass and audio life detection instruments.

New tariff items will be added and duties will be levied on products like 3D printers, welding robots and crystal. This will raise the total number of China's import-export tariff items from 8,238 in 2013 to 8,277 in 2014.

As a response to the call for ecological development outlined in last month's reform package, provisional export tariffs on coal, crude oil, fertilizer and titanium will stay, the ministry said.