A total of 4,500 metric tons of low-sulfur fuel oil were sent to the customs warehouses of Sinochem Xingzhong Oil Staging (Zhoushan) Co in Zhoushan, East China’s Zhejiang province, on Feb 23.

This marks the first export tax rebate for fuel oil in the China (Zhejiang) Free Trade Zone (FTZ), officials said.

The tax rebate was executed according to a policy on tax rebates for bunker fuel oil filling businesses issued by the Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs, and State Taxation Administration.

PetroChina International (East China) Co, a Shanghai-based company and commercial agent of low-sulfur fuel oil, is expected to receive about 1.7 million yuan ($241,750) in tax rebates, according to local authorities.

The Zhejiang FTZ, a national free trade zone based in Zhoushan, has been striving to build itself into a center for bonded bunker fuel oil filling in northeast Asia ever since it was first established in 2017.

The zone currently has 14 enterprises involved in bonded bunker oil filling, and in 2019, these enterprises provided over 4.1 million tons of bonded bunker oil for their clients, ranking the zone top place in China for bonded bunker oil filling.