China Planning More Export Rebates to Boost Trade

January 4, 1999 - 0:0
BEIJING China is planning more export rebates and credits to boost trade after the Asian financial crisis dragged export growth to zero in 1998, the China Daily reported Sunday. Export rebate rates on some internationally marketable products, mainly machinery and electronic products, will be raised to help augment the competitiveness of Chinese exports, a high-profile trade official told the state-controlled newspaper.

There will also be more financial support for Chinese exporters, including more export credits and export credit insurance and guarantee policies, he added. Exports have been the traditional engine for economic growth in China and in 1997 contributed to two percentage points of the nation's 8.8 percent economic growth rate. But last year, the Asian financial crisis pulled the nation's export growth back to zero, with exports totalling 182 billion dollars, the same as the previous year.

Over the same period, imports fell by 3.8 percent to 137 billion dollars. The trade official, who requested anonymity, said more Chinese manufacturers would be granted export rights while efforts to boost trade with Latin America and Africa would be intensified. Last year, Chinese exports to Europe and North America increased significantly because Southeast Asian nations hit by the financial crisis did not have enough strength to generate and export large quantities of products, he said.

This year, however, their economies are expected to bottom out and their exports to Europe and North America will grow considerably as they trade their way out of recession, he added. (AFP)