China to take measures for expanding imports

BEIJING - The State Council, China's cabinet, said Wednesday that the country will further expand imports to promote the mutually beneficial and win-win open-up strategy and safeguard free trade.

The move will also force the upgrading of domestic industries and better meet people's diverse demands, said a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The meeting also stressed the need to stabilize exports.

In response to consumption upgrades and supply quality improvement, China supports the imports of daily consumer goods, medicine, and equipment for rehabilitation and old-age care, the statement said.

China will implement measures on lowering import tariffs, reduce intermediate links of distribution and clear unreasonable price markups to let the people enjoy the benefits from lower tariffs, the statement said.

The country will also develop the trade in emerging service sectors and expand the imports of production-related services, including design, logistics, consulting, energy conservation, and environmental protection services.

It will also improve the policies on duty-free shops, and increase the import of duty-free products, the statement read.

More technical equipment conducive to economic transformation will also be imported.

China will optimize the process of import customs clearance and seek international mutual recognition of Authorized Economic Operators to facilitate import, the statement said.

Unreasonable management measures and fees during the import process will be cleared, and the country will step up the building of a credit system for foreign trade and improve intellectual property protection.