Fuel oil, lubricants included in fuel tax reform

China plans to include fuel oil and lubricants under the fuel tax structure to be introduced Jan. 1, an official with Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.

The tax on fuel oil will be 0.8 yuan a liter, the same as diesel, while the tax on lubricants will be 1 yuan a liter, the same as gasoline, the official said in response to a query from Dow Jones Newswires.

On Friday, the government unveiled a plan to introduce fuel taxes to replace six kinds of road maintenance charges. It mentioned gasoline, diesel and naphtha, but did not clarify whether fuel oil or lubricants would be covered by the new tax structure.

The official said Wednesday that the tax on naphtha will be 1 yuan a liter, but naphtha used to produce ethylene will be exempted to support the ethylene industry.