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Gov't to levy fuel tax 'soon' - source

By Si Tingting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-18 13:22

A driver gets a refill at a gas station in Qingdao, Shandong Province in this November 12, 2008 photo. Many private gas stations across the country have lowered the price of gasoline with the global oil price hovering around $55 per barrel, but stations run by China's two oil giants, PetroChina and Sinopec, keep their prices unchanged. [Xinhua]

A senior researcher close to China's energy policy making circle said today that the Chinese government will soon start to levy fuel tax.

Related readings:  A call for fuel tax  Analysts: Time ripe for introducing fuel oil tax

"The announcement will come very soon, and actually specific plans have already been suggested to the government long ago," Han Wenke, director general of the Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission, told China Daily this morning.

"The government has repeatedly said that it will look for an appropriate time to start levying the fuel tax, and now this is soon to come," he added, but without specifying further details.