China is banning cigarette and liquor imports...

China is banning cigarette and liquor imports this year to save foreign currency and end abuses in its foreign trade system, official reports said. China Daily quoted Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Minister Zheng Tuobin as also announcing a ban on reselling export licenses and tightening controls on imports of all products that can be made in China. The newspaper did not say when the restrictions will take effect. A ban last year on sales of foreign cigarettes did little to slow their widespread smuggling into China.