The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) has recently punished five trading companies involved in smuggling activities in an effort to crack down on smuggling and regulate corporate behavior.
Penalty on the five companies ranges from suspension to withdrawal of a special license which allows them to engage in foreign trade.
Sources from the ministry said one of the five companies, a trading firm in east China's Shandong Province, was found smuggling into China US$1.37 million of polyethylene and evading US$440,000 in taxes.
In an effort to better regulate their business operations, MOFTEC has decided to set up, on a step-by-step basis, a credit system for all Chinese trading companies. To start with, all their misconduct and penalties will be recorded and input into a national database.
(Xinhua 12/14/2000)
