More than 300 cabbies went on strike Wednesday in Foshan City, in south China's Guangdong Province.

The taxi drivers gathered in front of the city's transportation bureau. Their representatives were in talks with the bureau's officials and the result would be released on Thursday morning, an official, surnamed Li, with the bureau's general office told Xinhua.

The drivers complained that the monthly fees and gas cost were too expensive, and more and more unlicensed cabs were taking their business away. They said the government did not make enough effort to crack down on unlicensed cabs.

On Wednesday afternoon, few cabs were seen on the city's downtown streets. Two cabs stopped at the square before the Nanhai district bus station, but they both had a note bearing "Service Suspended."

A driver surnamed Wu said all the taxi drivers in the city had stopped work. So those who wanted to continue to work used the notes as a pretence in fear that other drivers would damage their cars.

An employee of a hotel near the Nanhai bus station said usually many taxis stopped in front of the hotel but no taxis could be found on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2008)