Fifteen people from all walks of life will voice their opinions on planned changes to domestic airfare at a public hearing organized by the State Development and Reform Commission Tuesday in Beijing.
The commission, authorized by the central government to oversee economic development and price reform, has proposed a scheme, which gives airlines more freedom to raise and cut ticket prices, Tuesday's China Daily reports.
According to the scheme, the airlines will be allowed to raise ticket prices by a maximum of 25 percent or cut them by up to 40 percent. And the benchmark price for every passenger is 0.75 yuan (0.09 US dollar) per kilometer.
Seven out of the 15 representatives are from Beijing, Shanghai, and the provinces of Guangdong, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang.
Others are aviation industry experts and representatives from four major airline companies and China Consumers' Association and the China Price Association.
The public hearing can serve as a useful litmus test of the aviation administration's commitment to market rules, according to the paper.
（People's Daily July 15, 2003）
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