China is considering applying varied tax rates to stock dividends, to encourage more long-term investment, China Securities Journal said on Monday, citing unidentified sources.

Under the proposal, the longer investors hold a stock, the lower the tax rate they would pay.

China's authorities announced a halving in tax for stock dividends for individual investors in 2005, to boost investor confidence, but no long-term incentives were offered.

The China Securities Journal also said the government is studying tax policies in relation to Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors and the trading of crude oil futures.

China has rolled out a series of measures recently to stabilize the stock market, which has fallen 6 percent so far this year following a 22 percent slump in 2011.