BEIJING -- Chinese authorities announced Friday that it had started a pilot scheme in the northern port city of Tianjin to offer tax rebates on exports of financial leasing companies, in a bid to encourage the development of the financial leasing business.

Financial leasing companies in Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone, part of Tianjin port, which lease items to overseas clients for at least five years and export via the city's port, can enjoy a rebate of value-added tax and consumption tax, the Ministry of Finance said.

Also, companies that buy offshore structures from domestic producers and then rent them to domestic offshore oil and gas producers by financial leasing for at least five years will also enjoy the same rebate, said the ministry.

Both domestic and foreign-funded financial leasing companies in Dongjiang are able to receive the rebate for both exports departed or leasing conducted after July 1, according to the ministry.

A financial lease, or capital lease, is a commercial arrangement where a finance company leases an asset, such as equipment and software, to a client.