upgrade its industrial structure. In recent years, on top of its commitments to the WTO, China has self-initiated significant reductions to import tariffs on an interim basis for multiple times. According to the WTO, China's trade-weighted average import tariff rate had fallen to 4.4 percent in 2015, only 1.5 to 2 percentage points higher than those of developed economies such as the US and the EU. By the end of 2017, China had reduced tariffs on more than 900 tariff lines. At the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, China announced plans to further reduce import tariffs and to import more high-quality, distinctive products that meet the strong demand of the Chinese people.
| Box 2. China Takes Concrete Action to Expand Imports |
| At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference held in April 2018, China announced plans to increase imports. It has since taken effective measures to put its plans into action.
From May 1, 2018, China was to eliminate import tariffs on all common drugs including cancer drugs, alkaloid-based drugs that can treat cancer, and imported traditional Chinese medicine. All imported cancer drugs are now exempted from tariffs. From July 1, 2018, China is to reduce the most-favored-nation (MFN) tariffs for automobiles from 25 percent and 20 percent to 15 percent, and for auto parts from 25 percent to 6 percent. As a result, China's average MFN rates will have fallen to 13.8 percent for automobiles and 6 percent for auto parts. From July 1, 2018, China is to cut MFN tariffs for 1,449 consumer products from an average MFN rate of 15.7 percent to 6.9 percent, representing an average reduction of 55.9 percent. The country will further increase imports of goods and services to meet the rising needs of its consumers and to enhance the quality of its economic development. This will also boost economic growth and employment in other countries and regions. The aforementioned measures for reducing tariffs and expanding imports will provide abundant supplies to meet diverse domestic demand and promote China's supply-side structural reform and industrial restructuring and upgrading. |
2. Facilitating international trade
