Related readings:  Fuel oil tax in sight  Oil and coal import rise  Energy: Crude oil import growth may slow  Wu: China's surplus reflects global imbalances

And China will also lower coal import tariffs, including non-smoking coal, to zero from the current one percent.

The rules are in effect from June 1 to December 31, 2007.

A cut by three percentage points for fuel oil was welcomed by buyers in China, Asia¡¯s largest fuel oil buyer, who is now paying a near record high rate of US$350 per ton on free-on-board Singapore basis.

Imports of fuel oil, used to generate power and fuel ships, dropped 11 percent in the first three months of this year over a year earlier to 5.62 million tons, customs figures showed.

Last week the ministry said the country would impose extra export tariffs on a total of 142 low-end resources as of June 1 to narrow its widening trade surplus.

The adjustment includes an increase of five to 10 percent on export tariffs on more than 80 steel products, including steel wires, sheets and plates, and a lower import tariffs on 209 products on a temporary basis, including resource products and key component parts.

China's trade surplus in April more than doubled the figure of March to US$16.88 billion, the General Administration of Customs said on May 11.

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