To liberalize trade in China, the government continued to reduce administrative obstacles to trade by adjusting the tariffs and exchange rates. In 2005, the categories of import commodities subject to licensing controls were reduced to three, down from five in 2004 and eight in 2003.
As shown in the commodity chart below for year 2007, machinery and
transport equipments made up the majority of the imports, accounted for USD
412 billion or 43% of total import volume. Next major
imported products were chemical products which took 11.3%; mineral and raw
material accounted for 11.0%; and textile, rubber and metallurgical products were 10.8%.
