In January,  the  State  Administration  of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance  jointly  released  a notice announcing that the resource tax on coking coal  was  being  raised  to  RMB  8  ($1.04)  per  ton.  The new regulation came into effect on Feb. 1.

Before the  rise,  the resource tax on coal stood at RMB 3.2 ($0.41) per ton in Shanxi Province and between RMB 2.5 ($0.32) and RMB 4 ($0.52) per ton in Henan Province.

It is reported  that  Shanxi  Province  had begun to tax all coking coal once it  received  notification  of the regulation, even though detailed rules and information on the regulation had not been released.

The State  Administration  of  Taxation  has  now clarified that the new regulation  only  applies  to  prime  coking coal, and that other coking coal, such as fat and lean coal, is unaffected, according to the report.

China has lifted local coal resource taxes several times in recent years as part of efforts to reduce waste in coal exploitation operations.