China: export VAT rebate scrapped for 271 product categories
Since 1 April 2026, China has removed the export VAT rebate for 249 product categories and cut the battery rebate from 9% to 6%. The measure hits PVC, glass, ceramics, photovoltaic cells and e-cigarettes in particular, and mechanically raises the ex-factory price for any buyer, in Asia-Pacific as elsewhere.
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The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration published an announcement, referred to in the trade press as Announcement No. 2 of 2026, which withdraws the export VAT rebate that Chinese exporters previously received on 249 tariff lines, and cuts that for 22 battery-related lines from 9% to 6%.
The categories most often cited are organophosphorus compounds and lithium battery precursors (around a hundred lines), primary-form PVC, glass and glass products (around fifty lines, from raw material to finished product), ceramics (around thirty lines, including tiles and tableware), photovoltaic cells and modules, and e-cigarettes and nicotine-based products.
The measure took effect on 1 April 2026. For batteries, the timetable comes in two stages: the 6% rate applies from 1 April to 31 December 2026, ahead of an announced move to 0% on 1 January 2027. It is the date of the Chinese customs export declaration, not the order date, that determines the applicable rate.
All Chinese manufacturers in these product families are affected, and therefore all their export customers, including in Australia, Southeast Asia, India, Japan and South Korea, whether they buy directly or through an intermediary.
As of 27 September 2026, no further extension of the list has been confirmed by an official source; any subsequent announcement will need to be checked HS code by HS code with the State Taxation Administration.
What it changes for an importer
For an importer buying in China within one of these product families, removing the VAT rebate translates, for equal quality and volume, into a higher FOB price negotiated with the factory, since the factory generally passes on the loss of the rebate in its outgoing price. This is not an additional tax paid on arrival, but a higher upstream purchase price. Sorva can check with the factory, HS code by HS code, whether the targeted product is on the list before confirming a price, and compare several factories to absorb part of the increase without compromising quality.
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