**Apply selective controls to the import of coal chemical industry equipment

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In the second quarter of 2010, six departments including the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the **State Taxation Administration issued a joint notice to adjust the list of equipment and goods specified in the Interim Provisions on Tax Policies for the Import of Major Technical Equipment (issued in September 2009). The newly revised **Catalogue of Major Technical Equipment and Products to Support Development** and **List of Key Components and Raw Materials for the Import of Major Technical Equipment and Products** shall come into effect on April 25. Goods that meet the specified criteria are exempt from customs duties and value-added tax at the import stage. 　　It is understood that this adjustment makes the policies more detailed and targeted; for example, a differentiated approach is adopted regarding the import of equipment in sectors such as petrochemicals and coal chemicals: tax incentives are provided for the import of key technical equipment and products that are essential for development, while import taxes are imposed on all equipment, components, and spare parts that can already be designed and manufactured domestically. This not only helps to reduce the cost of importing advanced technical equipment domestically, but also facilitates the independent development and localization of such equipment. 　　The newly revised catalog shows that **the key technical equipment and products that are supported for development include 17 major categories such as large-scale petrochemical equipment, large-scale coal chemical industry equipment, large-scale ships and offshore engineering equipment, as well as large-scale environmental protection and comprehensive resource utilization equipment.** Among them, large-scale petrochemical equipment includes ethylene plant systems, polyethylene recycle gas compressors and reciprocating compressors used in polyethylene production, mixing, extrusion and granulation units, PTA plant systems, refinery equipment with a capacity of tens of millions of tons, as well as equipment for natural gas pipeline transportation and liquefaction storage ； Large-scale coal chemical equipment includes reciprocating slurry diaphragm pumps, coal liquefaction hydrogenation reactors, large-scale air separation units along with their compressors and boosters, large-scale ammonia synthesis equipment, and coal chemical gasification furnaces ； Large ships and offshore engineering equipment include large-scale offshore oil engineering equipment, floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs), LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers, and high-end chemical tankers ； Large-scale environmental protection and comprehensive resource utilization equipment includes membrane bioreactors for industrial wastewater treatment, large-scale turbogenerators that utilize the residual pressure from blast furnace gas, and complete sets of equipment for generating power from coal mine gas, among others. 　　In addition, the six departments have also revised the list of major technical equipment and products for which import duties are not exempted, and this list has been in effect since April 25. These include ethylene cracking gas compressors with an annual production capacity of less than 1.2 million tons, polyvinyl chloride and olefin polymerization reactors of all specifications, synthetic ammonia plants and urea plants with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons and 520,000 tons respectively, as well as coal chemical gasification furnaces of all specifications.