GUANGZHOU Shipyard International Co, Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co and six other Hong Kong-listed China-backed companies whose preferential tax treatment may end said they're evaluating the effect of the change.

Local tax bureaus must end the preferential tax policy, which has expired, the China Securities Journal reported yesterday, citing a notice from the State Administration of Taxation. The tax concession was granted in 1993. China is unifying its tax system, ending divergent treatment for local and overseas-owned companies.