China may cut tax rebates on exports of some resource- and energy-intensive products seen as harmful to the environment as part of efforts to reduce its growing trade surplus, state press said Sunday.
Rebates on products such as textiles, iron and steel, will be slashed by an average of two percent but they will be increased for high-tech industries, Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua said the move reflects government efforts to shift emphasis away from low value-added exports and comes as the nation's trade surplus is expected to rise to 100 billion dollars this year.
"The Chinese government wants to see a trade balance. We don't deliberately seek a rising surplus," Xinhua quoted Chong Quan, Ministry of Commerce spokesman, as saying.
China chalked up a 61.5 billion dollar trade surplus in the first half of this year, up 54.9 percent year-on-year, according to government figures. Introduced in 1985, tax rebates for exporters have made Chinese products more competitive on the international market.