In a bid to boost imports, China is cutting duties on some products, expanding financing channels for importers and streamlining the regulatory process, the State Council announced yesterday.
It is the first time China's Cabinet has devoted a regular meeting to the issue of boosting imports, which is usually under the purview of China's Ministry of Commerce.
"As we maintain stable growth in exports, we should focus more on imports and appropriately expand the size of imports," the State Council said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.
China, the world's largest exporter, will have to rely less on exports to drive its economy in coming years, when growth in major US and European markets slows.
Importing more will lift living standards and soothe China's disputes with its trade partners.
To boost imports, import duties will be cut for "some energy products, raw materials, consumer goods closely related to people's daily lives, and key items that China does not produce," the State Council statement said.
"China needs to pay more attention to imports while keeping exports stable, considering more environmental restrictions and people's higher standards of living.
"We should make good use of imports to accelerate technological innovation, improve people's livelihoods and reduce trade conflicts."
China will optimize the structure of imports, stabilize purchases of commodities, and encourage imports of advanced machinery equipment, key parts and consumer products, the State Council said.
It did not specify whether luxury products are included in the consumer products sector.
Last year, however, the Ministry of Commerce said the government was considering lowering the tax on luxury products in a bid to boost spending at home.
Some other measures to bolster imports discussed during the meeting included commercial banks being encouraged to lend to importers of machinery, key parts, energy and raw materials, and insurance companies introducing more services for importers.
Customs at all levels, as well as bureaus of entry-exit inspection and quarantine, will be told to reduce red tape and move their procedures online to make the process more convenient for importers.
"The efforts are unprecedented," said Xue Jun, an analyst at CITIC Securities Co. "The government officials are taking seriously the boosting of imports."
China used to stress exports as an important source of economic growth. However, China's imports have grown strongly over the past two years when exports were affected by waning global demand amid the economic crisis.
To restructure China's economy into one driven more by consumers, China is adopting a "buy more but not sell less" tactic, which helped narrow its trade surplus by 14.5 percent in 2011 to US$155 billion.
In February, China posted a US$31.5 billion trade deficit as it sucked in commodity imports that pushed total purchases up 39.6 percent compared to a year ago, more than double the pace of export growth.
Vice Premier Li Keqiang said earlier this month that China would import US$10 trillion worth of goods and services in the five years ending in 2015.
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In a bid to boost imports, China is cutting duties on some products, expanding financing channels for importers and streamlining the regulatory process, the State Council announced yesterday.
