Chinese Mainland to Exempt Tariffs on Some HK, Macao Products

China's mainland will eliminate import tariffs on 28 items of Hong Kong origin and 475 items of Macao origin starting July 1, according to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

All these above-mentioned items are under the Mainland-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), and the Mainland-Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, the Ministry said in a statement.

Food, medicine and textiles will be the main items in this zero-tariff category.

Hong Kong origin textiles are now subject to a 10-percent import levy, and pineapples and potatoes are subject to a 12-percent and 15-percent import levy, respectively.

Macao origin medicine now faces 4-percent to 6-percent import tariffs, according to the statement.

The mainland signed the CEPA with Hong Kong and Macao in 2003.

The sixth complementary agreement of the CEPA was signed on May9 this year by the mainland and Hong Kong, and on May 11 between the mainland and Macao.

"As an important policy favorable to Hong Kong, the CEPA has played an important role in bringing positive changes to the city," Tang Wei, director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao Affairs Department of the Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua Wednesday.

Ministry of Commerce statistics show that trade between the mainland and Hong Kong in the first five months of this year valued at 59.59 billion U.S. dollars, down 25.5 percent year on year.

Trade between the mainland and Macao in the first four months of this year stood at 670 million U.S. dollars, down 22.5 percent.