China has banned processing trade companies to export and import heavy diesel oil and fuel for the first time amid rising concern from home and abroad of the country's hefty energy consumption.

The prohibition was jointly released by the Commerce Ministry, the General Administration of Customs and the State Environmental Protection Administration. Under the Prohibition List for Processing Trade which will take effect on April 26, processing trade companies will not be allowed to deal with 990 products with 186, mostly unrenewable resources, newly added on.

According to customs data, the processing trade accounted for 80% of China's trade surplus, of which foreign-funded enterprises made up an overwhelmingly large proportion. This prohibition list can therefore help China reduce energy consumption, protect the environment and trim trade surplus, says Niu Li, economist with the State Information Center.

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