September 5, 2008

China would likely continue to limit grain exports via export tax adjustments, according to a Chinese analyst.

Zhang Bin, with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said current prices of China's resource-based commodities do not compensate for resource and environmental costs.

Late last year, China cancelled export tax rebates on raw grains like wheat and rice and put in place a 5-25 percent export tax for these commodities.

The government has also lifted export tax on fertiliser four times since the beginning of this year as prices and demand rose worldwide.

Statistics show that China's export from high energy consuming, high pollution, resource-based industries and food industry increased 10.6 percent in the first half year. However, the growth was 20 percent slower compared to the same period of 2007.