China to impose fuel tax ”very soon”: paper

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will impose a long-awaited fuel tax “very soon,” the head of National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) Energy Research Institute said in comments reported on Tuesday by the China Daily.

“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 research body, was quoted as saying.

More than a decade in the works, the fuel tax — experts expect 25 percent or more will be heaped upon retail pump prices — is meant to replace road tolls as a means to fund highway construction.

Beijing had held back on imposing the tax due to previous concerns about rising inflation, high and volatile oil prices, and a definitive fuel pricing scheme, officials had said.

Reuters