China Tuesday introduced a new tax on sales of crude oil and natural gas in western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.

The 5 percent tax is aimed to increase revenue for the local government of the resource-rich Xinjiang, and is part of a support package for the region unveiled at a central work conference held in Beijing last month.

The new measure, a shift from current taxes based on output, is a crucial step to save natural resources by raising the consumption cost. The government intends to impose the tax nationwide after regional trials.

Thick oil, high condensation oil and high sulphur natural gas is taxed less at 3 percent, while oil recovered by tertiary methods is taxed 3.5 percent.