China wants market to set prices for energy, power, water, transport, telecoms

~~BEIJING - In documents released after the Third Plenum, Chinese Government leaders announced their decision to establish market-oriented pricing systems for water, crude oil, natural gas, electricity, transportation and telecoms. The Government plans to give the market the right to set prices, and will only keep controls on prices for public utilities and services.

Currently, China’s wholesale power prices and tariffs for residential and industrial usage are set by the National Development and Reform Commission, and many in the industry complain that the Government-controlled prices fail to reflect demand. The industry has long been trying to push forward price reforms, but efforts have been stalled.