Li vows expanding tax rebate to firms near Yangtze

Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Friday to expand tax rebate to companies operating at the riverside provincial areas of Yangtze river in commodities at local inland ports.

He made the pledge to expand the rebate in order to facilitate Customs and opening-up during a visit to Shanghai port, a major logistics hub connecting the country's underdeveloped west to overseas market along China's longest river.

Xing Kangdi, head of the logistics center, said at least four inland areas, including Wuhan in Hubei province and Chongqing municipality, have started to provide tax rebate to trading firms. But not all inland provincial areas along the river have been included in the rebate system.

"Shanghai port is like the head of the Yangtze river's waterway. Only when the head of the dragon is flexible, can its body and tail be dynamic," Li said as he took a bird's-eye view of containers at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Logistics Center.

Shanghai port and its logistics center cover 12 inland provincial areas, including Chongqing municipality, China's economic center in the west. Commodities that have gone through Customs clearance can be exported directly at Shanghai port, Xing said.