China will impose or raise export duties on products including wood pulp, coke, alloy steel, steel billets, and some finished steel products in 2008, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Friday.

The nation will also impose temporary export tariffs on coal, crude oil, and metal ores next year, the MOF stated, without providing further details.

The move aims to rein in the rapid expansion of the industries that consume more energy and discharge more pollutants, it said.

China will next year levy lower temporary import duties on more than 600 kinds of products including crude oil, coal, key equipments and component parts, doubling the figure of last year, amid efforts to trim the trade surplus and optimise economic structure.

Meanwhile, the MOF said that China will impose special preferential tariffs on some exports from 39 African, Southeast Asian and Mid-east nations.

The ministry added the nation's general tariff level for 2008 will be held at 9.8 percent, with the tariff level for farm produce at 15.2 percent and that for industrial products at 8.9 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2007)