CHENGDU, China, July 1 -- China will gradually cancel tax rebates on exports of steel, base metals and products over the next 5-½ years to limit production capacity, an offical said Thursday.

Over the same time export taxes may be imposed on those metals and products, Fan Jianping, director general of the Economic Forecasting Department of the State Information Center, told a lead and zinc trade summit in Chengdu in the western province of Sichuan.