SHOPKEEPERS in a southern suburb of Beijing staged a seven-day strike to protest against illegal fees, and managed to win partial concessions from the authorities, a Chinese newspaper reported yesterday.
The China Business Daily said more than 500 shopkeepers in the Muxiyuan suburb in the southern part of the capital went on strike from March 1 to March 7 after the local Industry and Commerce office demanded all merchants to get a social security registration card, for which a fee was charged.
Very few merchants registered, and on March 1 police and other officials prevented unregistered merchants from entering the market which prompted the shopkeepers to strike in protest.
Although it was an isolated incident, the case shows how China's rising entrepreneurial class is starting to flex its muscles when challenged by the authorities.
Shopkeepers were quoted as saying the social security registration demand was the latest of a series of what they called illegal fees imposed by the Industry and Commerce office.
The merchants said they were charged hundreds of yuan monthly for a variety of fees which went beyond those set by contract with the local authorities.
