China: call for end to import tariffs on luxury good - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

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China: call for end to import tariffs on luxury goods

08/03/2012
A Chinese banking expert has called on the government there to lower import tariffs on luxury goods to make it easier for wealthy consumers to buy the goods they want in China.

The government lowered import tariffs on more than 70 types of product on January 1 this year, but tariffs on luxury goods, including high-end leathergoods and footwear remain in place.

As a result, Chinese consumers are spending more money overseas than ever before. Su Ning, chairman of China's only credit card network, China UnionPay, said at a meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on March 6 that the value of overseas purchases the network handled in 2011 went up by 67% compared to the previous year, reaching $47.5 billion. Mr Su, a former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, added that if cash purchases were included, the total figure would be "astonishing".

An official response from the ministry of finance said that the import tariffs make an important contribution to the public purse, suggesting that there is little appetite to lift them.


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