The move is to help boost global trade amid the international financial crisis, the China Securities Journal said, citing Mr Zhang Xiangchen, a senior envoy at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mr Zhang was not quoted as giving any timetable for when the cuts would take place. It was not clear if the tariff cuts would affect all products imported by hina. A Chinese commerce ministry official contacted by AFP on Monday said she was unable to clarify the matter. The average tariff on agricultural products now is 15.2 per cent, compared with 54 per cent before China entered the WTO in 2001, the report said. A surge in imports from China could have potentially huge significance for the global economy, as it is now the world's third-largest importer after the United States and Germany. -- AFP