(Yicai Global) Dec. 23 -- China will bring in temporary import tax rates that are lower than most-favored-nation tariffs for over 883 products from Jan. 1. In addition, tariffs will be waived on 59 types of anticancer and rare disease drugs, according to a circular the government released today.

China will also cut taxes on production and certain materials such as medical equipment, said the circular from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, China’s cabinet.

They include mechanical heart valves and hearing aids, raw materials for whey protein powder and infant formulas with lactoferrin, some equipment and parts for new infrastructure creation or high-tech industry, as well as diesel engine exhaust filtration and purification devices and exhaust gas recirculation valves.

China exempted 28 drugs from import levies, including anticancer treatments, for the first time in May 2018. Before that, most tariffs on imported medicines were between 3 percent and 6 percent.

According to bilateral trade pacts and the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, China will also further lower conventional tariffs for goods from New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, South Korea, Chile, Georgia, Pakistan and Mauritius to below the MFN rates from Jan. 1.

The intention is to better attract global resources, according to the circular. They not only meet domestic demand, but also boost the level of China’s industrial technology development, giving full play to the advantages of its huge market to provide opportunities for countries and promote the common development of China’s economy and the world economy, it added.

Editor: Peter Thomas