China is likely to set limits on imports of key petrochemical plant equipment as the government aims to encourage use of domestically made machinery.

An official said a draft decree has been sent out to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), and that final regulations "will be released soon".

The efforts are aimed at increasing the proportion of domestically-produced equipment to safeguard industry security.

The government will release a specific guideline and a catalogue on permissible items of petrochemical equipment imports, and will also introduce tax measures to encourage use of locally made machinery.

China imports at least 75 billion yuan worth of petrochemical equipment every year.

(US$1 = 7.65 yuan)