Beijing to end price controls for most products
Move is part of effort to encourage an economy that is driven by consumption and enterprise
Beijing is to relinquish the government's role in setting the prices of a wide range of commodities and services used in everyday life, as part of its market-based reforms.
In a list released on Wednesday outlining what goods and services would be subject to price controls, the National Development and Reform Commission had dropped 80 per cent of the products it usually prices.
Xu Kunlin, head of the NDRC's pricing department, told Xinhua yesterday that the government would embark on a so-called negative list system, on which only a small portion of products and services - those of vital importance to the national economy or that required heavy regulation due to safety concerns - would be included.
On the new list, only seven categories of products and services remain subject to the NDRC's price controls. These include natural gas, electricity, tap water, and anaesthetics.
The NDRC is seeking public feedback on the list in a consultation that will end May 19.
"It will have far-reaching significance to the economy and the country's development," said Liu Zhongyuan, Xiangcai Qinian Futures' chief economist. "It's no easy job, but the top leaders have shown their ability to get reform implemented."