WTO Entry Will Have Limited Influence on China's Customs Revenue: OfficialChina's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not have much impact on China's customs duty, Vice-Director of the General Administration of Customs Zhao Guanghua said Tuesday in Shanghai.Zhao told a press conference that customs revenue is expected to "maintain a stable increase this year and next year." China's customs duty exceeded 100 billion yuan in 1999 and 220 billion yuan last year, Zhao said. The revenue reached 144.8 billion yuan in the first seven months of the year, a year-on-year rise of 26.4 billion yuan, Zhao said, adding that this year's revenue is expected to be more than that of last year. He attributed the increase to the central government's continued efforts to fight smuggling, the sharp increase in China' s imports, structural changes of China's foreign trade, and improved supervision and management system of the customs. Zhao believes that the rate of customs duty will go down after China's WTO entry, and the tax revenue might be affected. However, revenue could increase, for the decrease of customs duty may give impetus to imports, he said. WTO entry thus will only have "limited impact" on China's tariffs, Zhao said. |
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