The Chinese finance ministry said the government will raise the rebate on a range of textiles and garments to 13 percent from 11 percent beginning Friday to help exporters whose business has been hurt by a rising yuan, weaker demand and rising costs.
"The tax rebate hike will give a break to the ailing clothing exporters and help ease the concern over an unemployment spurt," said a government researcher, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Rebates on the value-added tax on hundreds of textiles and garments were cut last year to slow China's burgeoning trade surplus. But since then the industry has been complaining of shrinking profits and weakening demand overseas, the report said.
The report said China's June textile and garment exports of $15.5 billion were 4.2 percent below the same month of last year. The Chinese yuan has appreciated 6 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
China has been under increasing global pressure to revalue its currency, with some critics saying an artificially low yuan is the primary reason for the country's ballooning trade surplus.
China's textile and apparel exports had zoomed since the elimination of the global system of country-by-country quotas in 2005.
