China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

China will adjust the import tariff rates and items on certain goods starting from Jan. 1, 2025, in an effort to expand domestic demand and advance high-standard opening up, authorities announced Saturday.

Provisional import tariffs, lower than the most-favored-nation rates, will be applied to 935 commodities next year as part of the annual tariff adjustment plan. This plan "will help increase the imports of quality products," according to a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

In order to support the development of new quality productive forces led by sci-tech innovation, the import tariffs on cycloolefin polymers, ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, and automatic transmissions for special-purpose vehicles such as fire trucks and repair vehicles will be reduced; In order to improve people's livelihood, the import tariffs on sodium zirconium cyclosilicate for medicine, viral vectors for CAR-T tumor therapy, and nickel-titanium alloy wires for surgical implants will be reduced; In order to promote green and low-carbon development, the import tariffs on ethane and some recycled copper and aluminum raw materials will be reduced.

In order to expand the global high-standard free trade zone network, China will implement agreed tariff rates on some imported goods originating from 34 countries or regions in 2025, under the guidance of 24 free trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements.

The announcement said that to support the least developed countries, the 43 least-developed countries with diplomatic relations with China will benefit from zero tariffs on 100 percent of the items imported by China.

In 2025, China will also continue to implement preferential tariffs on some imported goods originating from Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in accordance with the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement and the intergovernmental exchange of notes between China and relevant ASEAN member states.

"Actively building a global free trade zone network is a manifestation of our commitment as a major country to uphold the multilateral trade system and WTO rules. We will promote the world to further develop towards globalization and multilateralism to serve the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," said Gao Lingyun, a research fellow with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

China to adjust import tariff rates, items on certain goods for 2025

At least 15 people were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanese official sources.

At least one child was among those killed and several children were among those injured in the strikes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and the National News Agency.

The Israeli army on Saturday morning ordered residents of southern Lebanese towns to evacuate before conducting airstrikes and demolishing homes.

Israeli attacks and airstrikes in Lebanon since March 2 had killed 2,795 people and injured 8,586 others, according to the latest data released by the Emergency Operations Center of Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched a rocket barrage overnight targeting a gathering of Israeli military vehicles and soldiers along the Lebanon-Israel border, in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group was in a "defensive position" against Israeli "aggression" and warned that Israel should expect a response whenever it targets Lebanese villages or Beirut's southern suburbs. An Israeli soldier was seriously injured, and two others moderately injured in Israeli territory near the Lebanese border by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah on Saturday, according to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The soldiers were rushed to a hospital, the statement said, adding that additional explosive drones launched by Hezbollah fell in Israeli territory near the border, without causing any casualties.

Another explosive drone hit an unmanned IDF engineering vehicle in southern Lebanon, with no casualties reported, the IDF said, adding that its air force intercepted several projectiles launched by Hezbollah toward Israeli soldiers operating in southern Lebanon.

The exchanges of fire came despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that took effect last month following weeks of cross-border fighting tied to broader regional tensions triggered by the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

15 killed in Israeli strikes in S. Lebanon