The customs authorities in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province implemented a series of preferential tariff polices on some categories of goods on September 12.

The imports that qualify for the policies are now exempt from taxes and protective tariffs under the new management mode, in accordance with a directive issued by the Finance Ministry, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation.

The move will play a positive role in developing Pingtan's bonded processing, bonded logistics, freight forwarding, transit trade as well as port logistics, and will accumulate experience for exploring new functions in China's free trade zones, according to the Fujian Provincial Department of Finance.

Tariff-free imports from overseas to Pingtan's customs include machinery, equipment and accessory parts for the purpose of infrastructure construction and production of enterprises.

China will levy parts of the tariff - depending on different situations - on imports going through the second stage and entering the Chinese mainland, according to the directive which also specifies the list of tariff-free imports.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman