China delays resource tax hike for miners -paper

SHANGHAI, July 8 (Reuters) - China will hold off for at least three months on a resource tax hike due to inflation worries, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Tuesday, after rumours of an imminent rise had sent coal-related share prices tumbling.

A plan to reform the resource tax system, resulting in higher tax rates for the mining sector, had been submitted to the State Council, China's cabinet, but was not approved, the paper quoted an unnamed government source as saying.

"It doesn't mean that the tax policy change won't happen. It's just being delayed," the source said.

Shanghai-listed coal stocks rose after the report, with China Shenhua Energy Co (601088.SS), China's largest coal miner, up 3.37 percent at 34.05 yuan in morning trade, while China Coal Energy Co (601898.SS) rose 2.83 percent to 15.24 yuan.

Both outperformed the Shanghai benchmark index's .SSEC 0.52 percent rise.

A rumour last Friday that resource tax changes would be announced over the weekend had spurred a slide in mainland-listed coal shares, with several setting new lows for the year as the market worried that coal miners' profits would suffer.

The Shanghai Securities News said authorities were rumoured to be considering levying the resource tax on a price basis rather than on a volume basis, with a tax rate as high as 10 percent.

It also quoted analysts as saying that the resulting tax increase would further boost domestic coal prices, which have recently surged to record highs due to tight supplies.

Chinese media reports and government officials have repeatedly said in recent years that Beijing may raise the resource tax, which would help to eliminate small, heavily polluting mines and encourage larger, more efficient operations. (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)