Home>News Center>China
       
 

Anti-monopoly legislation urged by lawmakers
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-03-04 10:49

Chinese lawmakers and political advisors have strongly questioned the arbitrary charges imposed by the monopoly sectors, such as civil aviation and railways, and have called for early legislation against monopoly activities.

Two of the mostly questioned charges are the "airport construction fee" claimed by civil aviation operators on every air passenger aged above 12 for each flight they take, and the " floating train ticket price" introduced by the Chinese railways during each year's peak passenger flow period, the "Spring Transportation" period.

"Many people have asked me what kind of charge the 'airport construction fee' is. It is not a tax, since the 'taxpayers' never get to know what the money is collected for, neither a donation, which should occur on a voluntary basis, nor an investment, which should generate economic returns," said Zhao Zhiquan, a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature which will convene its annual full session from Sunday.

China's civil aviation administration and operators started to charge a 50-yuan (6 U.S. dollars) per person "airport construction fee" on the air passengers in 1992, when the country's civil aviation sector entered a booming period.

"These charges were not examined or approved by the NPC Standing Committee, neither had they undergone any public hearings. They might be reasonable under a planned economy, but definitely no longer fits in China today," said Zhao.

"I wonder what kind of airport needs to charge the passengers for more than a decade yet its construction remains 'uncompleted,' and why teenage passengers aged between 12 and 18 should also take the obligation for 'airport construction,'" asked the lawmaker, who pointed to the fact that in 2005 alone the Chinese civil aviation sector transported 138 million passengers, more than double the figure in 2000.

Ji Jinshan, another NPC deputy coming to Beijing for the impending session, said he had received letters of complaints from poor rural migrant workers about the Chinese railways' charging of extra ticket fees during the Spring Festival holidays, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The Spring Festival, which usually falls in January or February each year, is a traditional occasion for the Chinese people to have family reunions. In about 40 days before and after the festival, tens of millions of people, mostly rural migrant workers and college students, travel by train between their hometowns and the places where they work and study.

Since the 2001 Spring Festival, the Chinese railways have been applying a "floating ticket price" system during the festival period, dubbed "Chun Yun" in Chinese or literally the "Spring Transportation," raising the ticket charges by 15 percent to 20 percent.

"The railways claimed that it raised ticket prices in order to 'limit the passenger flow' and 'divert peak period passenger flows ', but in fact it never worked in the past six years," said Ji.

Statistics showed that during the 40-day "Spring Transportation " period this year, the railways transported a record 149 million passengers, 9.5 million more than in the previous year.

"Despite the price hike, it had become even harder to get a train ticket for 'Chun Yun' this year. Facts have proved that the railway sector is just using 'limiting and diverting passenger flows' as a pretext for its brazen exercise of monopoly," said the legislator.

Ji also questioned the term of "floating price." "If they are really 'floating' ones, how come that we always saw them climb up during peak periods, but never go down in low seasons?" he asked.

According to Ren Yuling, a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body which is convening its annual full session in Beijing, civil aviation and railways are not the only sectors in which monopoly has led to arbitrary and excessive charges.

"It is high time for us to retrospect and take immediate and effective measures to break such monopolies," said Ren.

He suggested that the state open more monopoly sectors to private capital and provide a level playing ground for market competition. "Monopoly departments should also accelerate their market-oriented reforms, and take public interest into account while pursuing profits," he added.

"I suggest the anti-monopoly law be enacted as soon as possible, to fully guarantee fair market competitions by legal means," Ren said.



Learn from Lei Feng
Special job fairs for female job seekers
CPPCC annual session opens in Beijing
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

CPPCC to heed calls from grass roots

 

   
 

'We'll never tolerate acts of secession'

 

   
 

Zhong: Bird flu to affect more regions globally

 

   
 

'No timetable for RMB convertibility'

 

   
 

US exaggerates IPR violations, say experts

 

   
 

Bush visits Pakistan amid protests

 

   
  Blog opened for law-makers, political advisors
   
  Man dies of suspected bird flu in Guangzhou
   
  Chen Shui-bian's move very risky: FM
   
  200 gov't employees involved in fund misuse
   
  Taiwan leaders urged to correct comments
   
  China lawmakers push for gay marriage
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 777奇米影视四色永久| 久久久久成人精品无码| 熟妇人妻va精品中文字幕| 国产a∨精品一区二区三区不卡| 欧美xxxxbbb| 国产精品高清一区二区三区不卡| japanesevideo喷潮| 成人品视频观看在线| 久久一区二区三区精品| 日韩欧美国产三级| 亚洲中久无码永久在线观看同| 欧美精品stoya在线| 人妻av无码一区二区三区| 精品久久伦理中文字幕| 天天久久影视色香综合网| 国产一区二区不卡| 日本xxxxx高清视频| 国产精品热久久| 91视频国产91久久久| 大美香蕉伊在看欧美| www一级黄色片| 性欧美18-19sex性高清播放| 久久777国产线看观看精品卜| 日本精品一区二区三区视频| 九一制片厂免费传媒果冻| 欧美XXXXX高潮喷水麻豆| 亚洲国产美女在线观看| 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区在线 | a级毛片在线观看| 好猛好紧好硬使劲好大男男| 一级美国片免费看| 成人欧美一区二区三区的电影| 中韩高清无专码区2021曰| 日本一二区视频| 久久久久国产综合AV天堂| 日本在线理论片| 久久国产AVJUST麻豆| 日韩aa在线观看| 久久国产精品免费专区| 日韩a级毛片免费视频| 久久水蜜桃亚洲AV无码精品|