China's textile industry will witness a nearly 10 percent drop in profits due to an adjustment to the country's tax rebates policy, according to the Oriental Morning Post.

The government will eliminate or cut tax rebates for more than 2,800 export items starting July 1, in the boldest move to rein in exports since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The affected items account for 37 percent of all export products, the Ministry of Finance announced.

In the adjustment, tax rebate for garments is slashed to 11 percent from 13 percent. According to 2006 statistics, industrial profits will decline by 4.6 percent when tax rebates fall one percentage point, said Wang Yu, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles.

The textile industry is a major contributor to China's big trade surplus. The country's textile sector saw US$129.2 billion of trade surplus last year, accounting for 71 percent of the total trade surplus. In the first quarter of 2007, the textile industry's trade surplus reached US$27.28 billion, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total surplus. As a result, the textile sector will bear the brunt of the tax rebate adjustment.

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