English

By Dai Qi

An Amendment to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) for a new round of tariff-cutting among its members was put into effect on Sunday, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

A total of 10,312 tariff codes were covered with a tariff reduction of up to 33 percent on average among six member countries, namely China, India, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Laos.

It is worth mentioning that the least developed countries will enjoy an average preference of an 86 percent cut in tariffs. China, India, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka provided 1,259  tariffs cut codes for Bangladesh and 1,251 of that for Laos.

According to the amendment, the objectives of this Agreement are to promote economic development through a continuous process of trade expansion among the developing member countries of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

It also aims to further internationalize the economic co-operation among member nations through the adoption of mutually beneficial trade liberalization measures consistent with their respective present and future development and trade needs.

Products covered in the amendment from China include fish, vegetables, tea, chemicals, iron and steel, components of motor vehicles, instruments and apparatus, among others.

Those from India are animal products, oilseeds, minerals, etc.

The items also consist of fish, flowers, chemicals as well as leatherware from the Republic of Korea, and fishery and aquatic products, fruits and spices from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Laos.

The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement is a preferential trade agreement presided over by the ESCAP between developing countries with a population of nearly three billion, covering two global economic growth poles, namely East and South Asia.

China has been a member of the agreement since 2001 and it was the first preferential trade agreement that China got involved in.