China halts 'special port fees' on U.S. vessels

China said it would suspend for one year "special port fees" on U.S. vessels "simultaneously" with Washington's pause on levies targeting Chinese ships.

The suspension of the port fees, which applied to ships operated by or built in the U.S. that visited Chinese ports, began at 13:01 (05:01 GMT) on Monday, a transport ministry said.

Separately, Beijing said it would suspend sanctions against U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea's largest shipbuilders.

The year-long suspension of measures against Hanwha, effective from November 10, was linked to the US halting port fees it had levied on Chinese-built and operated ships, China's commerce ministry said.

"In light of this (U.S. suspension)... China has decided to suspend the relevant measures" for one year, the statement reads.

China had imposed sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha in October, accusing them of supporting a U.S. government "Section 301" investigation that found Beijing's dominance of the shipbuilding industry unreasonable.

A planned probe into whether the Section 301 investigation impacted the "security and development interests" of China's shipbuilding industry and supply chain had also been shelved for one year, according to the transport ministry.