China has unveiled a raft of new measures to cut logistics costs, including reducing government fees levied on farm products and highway tolls, in a bid to help boost consumption.

The government will lower water and power prices for producing and distributing agricultural goods within the country and cut charges for farmers' markets, the cabinet said after a regular meeting chaired by outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao.

The government will also reduce some highway tolls and scrap various administration charges to alleviate burden on logistic industries, according to guidelines issued by the cabinet.

But the guidelines, published on the central government's website, www.gov.cn, gave no specifics.

State agencies must strictly implement Beijing's favorable tax policies for transportation firms, such as raising the threshold of business tax levied on small firms and expanding the value-added tax reform in service sectors, it said.

The cabinet also pledged to speed up the construction of infrastructures in the countryside.

China's logistics costs are close to 18 percent of gross domestic product, far higher than that in the United States and other developed economies, according to local media. (Reuters)