China adjusts taxable prices for personal imports

Updated: 2012-04-21 15:08

(Xinhua)

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BEIJING - The General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Friday that it has adjusted taxable prices of items entering China, levying higher tariffs on luxuries but lowering duties on commonly used articles.

Despite this, each incoming passenger can still enjoy a tariff-exemption of personal articles worth less than 5,000 yuan ($794), a GAC spokesman said.

According to the adjusted tariff policy, the taxable prices of cordyceps sinensis (Chinese caterpillar fungus) and edible bird's nests, often used to prepare a delicacy in Chinese cuisine, will be doubled to 100,000 yuan per kg and 30,000 yuan per kg, respectively, with both tariff rates set at 10 percent.

Moreover, the GAC also raised the taxable prices of 15 other types of articles, citing rapid increases in their market prices in recent years.

Meanwhile, the GAC has decided to trim the taxable prices for 30 types of commonly used articles by 20 percent to 67 percent. This includes mobile phones, computers, projectors and other electronic products.

However, the GAC said iPads and iPhones will be taxed according to separate standards, due to the extreme fluctuations in price which result from these products being brought into China by people traveling from overseas.

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