The efforts must be as strong the fight against smuggling because fraud has not only severely drained the state coffer but also gravely disturbed the normal economic order, Zhu said at a recent national conference on cracking down on tax rebate crime.

Zhu urged governments at all levels to draw up concrete plans and concert their efforts to ensure a good environment for the country's reform, opening up and modernization drive.

The practice of tax rebates began in 1985, and since then, China has raised the rate of the rebate three times, substantially boosting the country's exports.

In the first ten months of this year, China's export volume was 205 billion yuan, surging 32.2 percent over the same period last year.

Earlier this year, the State Council sent a work group to the cities of Chaoyang and Puning in South China's Guangdong Province to fight against such fraud, a move that proved to be successful.

Major action will also be taken this year in nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Guangxi, Beijing, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shaanxi, Hubei and Shandong, according to the conference.

Vice-Premier Li Lanqing was also present at the meeting.

(Xinhua 11/17/2000)