CHENGDU, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese mainland will exempt Hong Kong and Macau exports from tariffs starting sometime before January 1, 2006, said a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

    Speaking at the high-ranking officials session of the second Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum, Chen Jian, assistant minister of commerce, said mainland authorities and Hong Kong and Macao already initiated the third stage of CEPA negotiations.

    Apart from zero tariffs on all Hong Kong and Macao products, the mainland also agreed to facilitate opening-up towards Hong Kong and Macao in services trade, Chen said.

    The official revealed Chinese mainland had agreed to zero tariff on 1108 Hong Kong products and 509 Macao products, nearly covering the whole scope of their production, since the implementation of CEPA one year and a half ago. It also bettered opened up 26 service industries.

    The total value of tariff-exempt commodities from Hong Kong and Macao amount to 1.86 billion HKD, which means a tariff cut of 130 million RMB.

    Chen also said CEPA benefits the PPRD inland and coastal provinces or areas as they are complementary in terms of resources, market and managerial expertise. Enditem