South China's Guangdong Province will hold a public hearing on December 8 to set the toll charge for passenger traffic during the coming Spring Festival in February next year, the provincial government announced last Thursday.
At the hearing, 33 representatives consisting of ticket agents, consumers, non-governmental organizations, economists, technical staff and legal experts from different government departments will be asked to voice their opinions on setting a toll rate during the holiday traffic rush. Another 40 interested parties will be at the meeting.
Road transport will be the choice of 60 million people in Guangdong during China's lunar new year festival which is the most important annual festival for Chinese.
China introduced regulations in July so that price setting would be done democratically. Local governments are urged to hold hearings to take note of public opinion when setting prices, and to allow the media to oversee the whole procedure.
The decision not only increases the transparency of government decisions but also gives more rights to consumers, sources said.
(China Daily December 3, 2001)
