Offshore crude import tax announced

The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday that an import tax will be imposed on foreign companies for offshore crude oil that Sino-foreign joint ventures export from China, the South China Morning Post reported. The tax will take effect August 1 this year but existing contracts will be exempt from the tax until August 1, 2012. "The main aim is to protect domestic resources by stopping foreign firms from taking China's offshore crude overseas," said Qiu Xiaofeng, a China Merchants Securities analyst.