MEASURES FOR THE COLLECTION OF PORT
CONSTRUCTION FEES

  (Issued On October 22, 1985 by the State Council)

 

 

SUBJECT: CONSTRUCTION

ISSUING-DEPT: STATE COUNCIL OF CHINA

ISSUE-DATE: 10/22/1985

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 01/01/1986

LENGTH: 1225 words

TEXT:

[Article 1] These Measures are formulated to accelerate port construction so as to meet the requirements of China's economic development.

[Article 2] Port construction fees will be levied on goods entering or leaving the following ports:

Dalian, Yingkou, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Shijiu, Lianyungang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shantou, Guangzhou, Huangpu, Haikou, Basuo, Sanya, Zhanjiang, Beihai, Fangcheng, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Zhangjiagang and Nantong.

[Article 3] The obligatory payer of port construction fees (hereinafter referred to as the fees payer) is the consignor (or its agent) or consignee (or its agent).

[Article 4] For goods entering or leaving the ports listed in Article 2 (including imports and exports for foreign trade in domestic transit from port to port), port construction fees will be levied only once for the whole voyage by water.

[Article 5] Port construction fees will be levied in accordance with the "Table of Rates of Port Construction Fees", as attached to these Measures.

[Article 6] The following goods will be exempt from port construction fees:

(1) Goods exempt from port fees under the port fee rules issued by the Ministry of Communications;

(2) Raw materials and their products transported by enterprises for their own needs through docks for the exclusive use of these enterprises;

(3) Goods exempt from port construction fees in accordance with the "Table of Rates of Port Construction Fees".

[Article 7] The Ministry of Communications is responsible for the collection and administration of port construction fees. Port administrations or joint stevedore companies of the ports listed in Article 2 will be the acting collectors; the water stevedore organisations designated by the acting collectors and other ports that have through transport connections with the ports listed in Article 2 shall be the acting receivers.

[Article 8] No separate voucher will be issued on the collection of the port construction fee. The acting collector or the acting receiver shall add an item for port construction fees to the existing freight bill and will verify and collect the port construction fees at the time of verifying and collecting freight and other charges from the fee payer.

After receiving the fees, the acting receiver shall pay the fees to the acting collector for account settlement within three days and is not permitted to reserve or use the fees for other purposes.

[Article 9] Port construction fees will be entered in a special account of the Ministry of Communications. The acting collector must open a special port construction fees account with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for the Ministry of Communications and shall deposit the collected fees in the special account within three days and transfer it to the Ministry of Communications month by month. The acting collector is only authorised to deposit or transfer the fees collected and cannot draw on it.

[Article 10] The income of port construction fees will be used as a source of port construction funds for the State. Uniform arrangements for the use of the funds will be made by the Ministry of Communications in accordance with relevant regulations.

[Article 11] The Ministry of Communications shall supervise the collecting and receiving undertaken by the acting collectors and acting receivers.

The acting collectors or acting receivers shall not be permitted any omission or mistake in collecting or receiving the port construction fees. Should an omission or mistake be discovered, it must be promptly made up or the mistake corrected.

[Article 12] The fees payer who does not pay the port construction fees in accordance with these Measures, in addition to a retrospective payment, shall be fined, according to the severity of the case, with a fine up to five times the fees that should have been paid.

[Article 13] Where a dispute on the payment of port construction fees arises between the fees payer and the acting collector or acting receiver, the fees payer must first pay the fees in accordance with the decision made by the acting collector or acting receiver, and then apply to the Ministry of Communications for a review, or directly file suit with the People's Court.

[Article 14] The interpretation of these Measures is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Communications will formulate implementing rules.

[Article 15] These Measures shall come into force on January 1, 1986.

APPENDIX

Table of Rates of Port Construction Fees
		Rates(yuan/tonne)
		Export		Import
Ports	Classification of goods		Four ports on the Yang- tze River		Four ports on the Yang- tze River	Remarks
		Sea ports		Sea ports
Dalian,	Oil					Exemption for domestic import Dues will be levied by the four ports on the Yangtze River on domestic export of oil (including crude oil) and coal (including coke) only.
Yinykou,	(including crude oil)	3.00	1.50	4.00	2.00
Quinhuangdao,
Tianjin,
Yantai,	Coal (including coke),iron and steel (including pig iron), ferrous or non-ferrous ores, cement, timber and fertilizer
Qingdao,
Shijiu,
Lianyungang,
Shanghai,
Ningbo,		1.50	0.80	2.50	1.30
Wenzhou,
Fuzhou,
Xiamen,
Shantou,
Guangzhou,
Huangpu,
Haikou,
Basuo,
Sanya,	Materials for mine constuc-tion and others					Exemption for domes-tic import and export
Zhanjiang,
Beihai,		1.50	0.80	2.50	1.30
Fangcheng,
Nanjing,
Zhenjiang,
Zhangjiagang						Exemption for domestic import
and
Nantong
						Exemption for domestic import and export at the four ports on the Yangtze River
	Grains and salt	0.50	0.30	1.00	0.50
	Goods for which the fee is cal-culated on the basis of the measurement in volume tonnes (M*M*M) Interna tional container goods (Yuan/container) Container of 20 feet Interna-tional container goods (Yuan/container) Container of 40 feet					Collection or exemption will be decided in accordance with the above classification of goods
		0.50	0.30	1.00	0.50
		12.50	6.30	25.00	12.50
						Exemption for domestic import and export
		25.00	12.50	50.00	25.00

 

NOTES:

1. Measurements and weights shall be calculated in accordance with the rules for the collection of port fees issued by the Ministry of Communications.

2. Port construction fees shall be levied on other containers of foreign imports and exports at 80% of the inner capacity and the rate of RMB 1.00/M*M*M for imports and RMB 0.50/M*M*M for exports.

3. The lowest charge for port construction fees will be RMB 0.10.

[Note: The Yangtze River is also known as the River Changjiang.]