China expands list of products with reduced tariffs

Economic authorities in China unveiled tariff cuts at the start of the week in a bid to bolster domestic demand and further open up its economy.

The list of 859 products included food and consumer goods, with iPhone parts and some drugs included among the latter.

According to Bloomberg, products on the list accounted for approximately $389.09bn-worth of the country's purchases from overseas in 2018.

A similar list for 2019 had included 706 products.

Levies on imports of frozen pork were slashed from 12.0% to 8.0% as Beijing moved to offset the sharp drop in domestic supplies of that staple food in the wake of the African swine flu epidemic that had decimated local herds since August 2018.

The tariff reductions would go into effect on 1 January and were due to last for a year, with a further reduction in so-called 'most favoured nation' levies for some information technology products due to kick-in on 1 July.

The announcement from the Chinese ministry of finance was not linked to the ongoing US-China trade talks.

To take note of, on Sunday, China's State Council announced measures meant to level the playing field between private firms and state-owned enterprises, including opening sectors such as energy and finance to non-state investors, making it easier for private companies to raise financing and reducing differences in regulation between private and public outfits.