The media outlet noted that the Customs Tariff Commission of the Council of State informed that the measure will be effective as of January 1.

According to the report, 12 chemical products from Taiwan, including propylene and paraxylene, will not benefit from the preferential tax rates stipulated in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between both sides to reduce trade barriers.

In June 2010, the parties signed a special agreement on the basis of the 1992 Consensus to promote normal economic relations, said the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese Government, Zhu Fenglian, who pointed out that since the Democratic Progressive Party came to power, it has taken concrete measures to intensify discriminatory trade restrictions against mainland China, and there are currently some 2,509 products affected by those measures.

The announcement about the elimination of tariff preferences for Taiwan came at a time of tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, due to the separatist discourse of the Taiwanese leaders and the interference by the United States in the matter.

Beijing defends the One China principle, which establishes that the entire national territory, including Taiwan, is part of the same country, with its central government in the Chinese capital.

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