China said on Thursday it will lower the tariffs on about 2,800 categories of products originating from the Philippines as of July 1 of this year, while eliminating tariffs on those goods from the five least developed countries in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.

The arrangement with the Philippines was made in line with a related free trade zone agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

With the approval of the Chinese government, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, also decided to eliminate tariffs from next month on products from Angola, Yemen, Maldive, Samoa and Vanuatu, which the ministry said are five of the least developed countries.

The Chinese central government will also eliminate tariffs on a fourth batch of products that originate from Macao and Hong Kong under an arrangement to provide closer economic and trade ties between the Chinese mainland and the two regions.