China Lowers VAT Rate on Dimethyl Ether

July 2, 2008  From www.chinainfoworld.com

(July 2)--The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation announced yesterday that in a bid to promote the use of dimethyl ether, they have decided to lower the value-added tax rate on the product to 13% starting on July 1st. This move indicates that the Chinese Government is in the process of further accelerating the development of dimethyl ether as an alternative energy in response to the constantly rising oil price. Dimethyl ether has good fuel properties, is cleaner and offers good performance, while its comprehensive advantages cannot be compared with those of liquefied gas, natural gas and ethanol in the use as alternative fuel for vehicles. Given that China has abundant coal deposits, the main raw material for dimethyl ether, and the coal exploitation period is longer than that for oil, it is clear that dimethyl ether presents a viable alternative to oil.

(Editor: Haijing Qu)