BEIJING -- China will lift a resource tax on crude oil and natural gas from 5 percent to 6 percent starting on Dec 1, in an effort to boost energy conservation, according to taxation authorities.

The change has marked the nation’s latest effort in pushing forward resource tax reforms, after authorities announced on Saturday a new tax on coal that will be based on sales rather than production as of Dec 1.

The new resource tax rate on coal will be between 2 to 10 percent and the tax rate will be decided by provincial governments within the range, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the State Administration of Taxation (SAT).

China had introduced a resource tax based on sales on crude oil and natural gas in 2010.

The MOF and SAT said that they will continue to work with other governmental departments in rolling our tax reforms on other resources, by referring to similar reforms to the coal tax.