The country's mobile telecommunications operators currently use a two-way charge system, which means that users have to pay 0.40 yuan (US$0.048) per minute when they both make and receive local phone calls.

This two-way system has become a very sensitive point arousing the close attention of both customers and investors.

Beijing's media Monday carried a report that said the MII, instead of immediately adopting one-way charges for mobile phone users, would first adopt a more elastic system to cushion the blow of one-way charges.

The story said that over the next year, the MII would gradually lower charges from the current 0.40 yuan (US$0.05) per minute to 0.30 yuan (US$0.04) per minute.

It also said that the first six to eight seconds after a user answers a call would be free of charge to allow the user to decide whether to carry on talking or to hang up.

The information given in this story was immediately denied by the MII.

"The current charges will not change this year or next. The report has no basis in fact," an MII spokesman said.

Last November, a similar rumour about one-way charges also spread widely both inside the country and abroad.

None of the rumours represent the view of the government department in charge, said Wu Jichuan, minister of information.

Any adjustment to telecommunications charges concerns the interests of the general public, he said, adding that according to the regulations, a public hearing should be held on any proposed adjustment plan.

It is technologically very complicated to change the charging system, requiring sufficient time to get prepared, said the minister.

The government department in charge of the telecoms industry has always been cautious about adjusting charges, he added.

China already had 85.26 million mobile phone users by the end of last year, which means that 6.7 per cent of the Chinese population own mobile phones, according to the latest statistics from the MII.

(China Daily 02/13/01)