Export tax rebate program expanded

    CHINA will expand a program to speed up tax refunds for companies that export via a Shanghai port, as it looks to boost the city’s role as an international shipping center.

    Exporters that send products abroad via Shanghai’s Yangshan deep-water port, will from next month be able to recoup some taxes as soon as ships set sail for Shanghai from feeder ports in Nanjing, Suzhou, Lianyungang, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Qingdao, Wuhan and Yueyang. Previously only Qingdao and Wuhan were included in the program, with tax refunds on goods sent from other ports of origin only paid when cargoes eventually left Shanghai.

    Imports of processed polysilicon suspended

    CHINA’S Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs have announced they will halt imports of processed polysilicon, marking an intensification of an ongoing trade battle between China and trading partners over solar power exports.

    The statement, posted on the website of the Ministry of Commerce, said the new policy will come into effect Sept. 1, and is being implemented in reaction to surging imports from South Korea, the United States and Europe.