CHONGQING is to exempt exporters from the export inspection and quarantine fee in the fourth quarter according to China State Council's announcement of measures to secure steady growth of foreign trade.

  The act is expected to boost Chongqing's exports of electro-mechanical products, according to the report of Xinhua.

  China State Council requires that all cargo and vehicle of import and export be exempted from inspection and quarantine fees in the fourth quarter.

  Preliminary estimation show that there will be more than 2,000 companies benefited from the move. Last year, Chongqing's inspection and quarantine authority collected over CNY11 million's (US$1.75 million) such fees in the fourth quarter. This year, the exempted sum in the fourth quarter is predicted to surpass CNY12 million.

  Electro-mechanical product export is expected to be the most benefited category of goods. From January to August, export of such product valued US$3.62 billion, taking up 80 per cent of the inspected exports.

  Chongqing has also strengthened their measures to cope with technical barriers in foreign trade and is more alert to the technical trade measures.

  Last year, Chongqing was heavily affected by technical barriers with 35 companies selected as random sample recorded direct loss of US$29.85 million. The most suffered industry was the automobile manufacturing industry. Five out of nine random sample companies are affected and recorded loss of US$29.33 million, taking up 98.25 per cent of the total.