China currently still places tariff and non-tariff controls on importation and exportation. The country is, however, committed to reducing and then eliminating them as part of its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organisation. 

Tariffs: Currently, There are around 1,240 categories for about 7,000 items in total including import duty rates, VAT, consumption tax rates, licensing and so on. The highest rates of import tariff in China are typically on luxury items around 20-25% (in some extreme cases it can be as high as 100%). Value Added Tax (VAT) is levied on all commodities and ranges from 13-15%. In addition to these tariffs, a consumption tax is applied to 20 different commodities regardless of trade, geographical location and entry of import. This ranges from 3-45%

Non-tariff barriers: In terms of non-tariff controls, China lists around 35 product categories for import regulation. Some are subject to both quota and licensing controls. There are two major import categories: machinery and electronic products and general commodities. The quota system is enforced by the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is responsible for import quotas.

WTO membership: China is committed to cutting industrial tariffs from an average of 24.6% down to 9.4%, and removing non-tariff barriers to trade and eliminating quotas and licences - to fall in line with accepted international norms in foreign trade.

The average import tariff rate will be lowered to 10% by 2005. The average import tariff on agricultural products will be lowered from the current 21% to around 17% and that on industrial products will be reduced to 9.44% by 2005.

Other significant tariff reductions by 2005 are:
• tariffs on imported cars will be reduced to 25%
• tariffs on information products will be lowered from the current average level of 13% to a zero rate for the majority of items under this category by 2005
• tariffs on chemical products will be lowered from 10.57% to 2% for chemical materials by 2005 and to 7% for chemical products by 2008
• Some of the items likely to see large reduction on their import tariffs in China are paper, wine, steel, medicine, construction machinery, medical equipment, toys and furniture.