China begins charging port fees for US ships, exempts China-built ones

BEIJING, Oct 14 (Reuters) - China has officially started collecting special port fees from U.S.-owned, operated, built, or flagged vessels on Tuesday but said Chinese-built ships would be exempted from it, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The details clarify the specific provisions on exemptions including for ships built by China, empty-loaded ships entering Chinese shipyards just for repair, and other ships that are deemed exempted from payment.

China's transport ministry announced last week that it would slap the new port fees as a countermeasure to U.S. port fees on China-linked ships starting the same day.