China NDRC: To Raise Water Prices in Urban Cities
Post# of 94171
Posted On: 01/03/2014 12:01:59 AM
China NDRC: To Raise Water Prices in Urban Cities
BEIJING--China will accelerate plans to raise some urban-household water prices, the nation's economic planner said Friday.
The National Development and Reform Commission said it wants to have a three-tiered price system based on total water use for households in all cities and some towns by the end of 2015.
The new system, which will extend existing trials in several cities, will charge the heaviest users--or the top 5% of households--three times the base rate of water, the state planner said on its website. Users that fall in the second-tier will pay 1.5 times the base rate. The commission said 80% of urban households won't be affected by the changes.
China has long kept water prices relatively low, but many areas across the north of the country are facing water shortages. Higher water rates under a tiered pricing system would encourage conservation.
Under the tiered-pricing system, regions with water shortages could have more flexibility in raising prices, the planning agency's statement said.
Beijing is already spending heavily on a major infrastructure project that will transport water from the south, where water is abundant, to water-short regions in the north.
At a key policy meeting in November, China's Communist Party leaders pledged to let the market determine prices of scarce resources, including water.
A tiered price system has already been in trial use in a number of cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Nanjing.
Write to Yajun Zhang at yajun.zhang@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
BEIJING--China will accelerate plans to raise some urban-household water prices, the nation's economic planner said Friday.
The National Development and Reform Commission said it wants to have a three-tiered price system based on total water use for households in all cities and some towns by the end of 2015.
The new system, which will extend existing trials in several cities, will charge the heaviest users--or the top 5% of households--three times the base rate of water, the state planner said on its website. Users that fall in the second-tier will pay 1.5 times the base rate. The commission said 80% of urban households won't be affected by the changes.
China has long kept water prices relatively low, but many areas across the north of the country are facing water shortages. Higher water rates under a tiered pricing system would encourage conservation.
Under the tiered-pricing system, regions with water shortages could have more flexibility in raising prices, the planning agency's statement said.
Beijing is already spending heavily on a major infrastructure project that will transport water from the south, where water is abundant, to water-short regions in the north.
At a key policy meeting in November, China's Communist Party leaders pledged to let the market determine prices of scarce resources, including water.
A tiered price system has already been in trial use in a number of cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Nanjing.
Write to Yajun Zhang at yajun.zhang@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
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