China may impose a ``resources'' tax of as much as 10 percent on crude oil, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Zhigang said.

The ministry will initially collect a 5 percent tax on crude oil and submitted a proposal to set the rate at 10 percent, Zhu said in a statement on the Beijing-based ministry's Web site. The finance ministry will collect taxes on other resources such as geothermal heat and mineral water, Zhu said.

The government plans to base the resources tax on the price of the commodity instead of linking it to the volume extracted, Zhu said. The resources tax is local and will contribute to revenue in the provinces where the resources are sourced, he said.

Chinese oil producers currently pay a tax on any revenue above $40 a barrel for oil they sell as a so-called windfall tax, introduced in March 2006. Payments will reach 60 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) this year, the government said Dec. 6.