China's 2,600-year-old agricultural tax will no longer exist as of Jan. 1, 2006, after China's top legislature voted on Thursday to adopt a motion on abolishing the country's agricultural tax regulations.

The motion with only 94 Chinese characters was voted favorably by 162 lawmakers and abstained by one.

Wan Baorui, former vice-minister of agriculture and vice-chairman of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee of National People's Congress, told Xinhua the abolition of agricultural tax demonstrates that industry has outgrown agriculture to great extent along with the country's economic development.

Official figures show that agriculture contributed to 13.1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004, and industry and tertiary trade contributed to 46.2 percent and 40.7 percent respectively.

Agricultural tax, China's most ancient tax category, started to be collected in 594 BC. From that time, agricultural tax has existed for 2,600 years in China with dominant rural economy.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2005)