Authoritative sources told that last year's price supervision was mainly focused on consumers' review of price and fee charging problem such as medical-related price checking.

Altogether 20,000 people participated in the checkup and 30,000 medical units involving a sum of some 1.3 billion yuan of irregular unlawful interest gains were investigated and penalized for price violation.

Some 1.67 billion yuan of unauthorized fees collected on land and housing countrywide have been revealed aside from many that are still under investigation by law-enforcing departments in China.

Investigations on grain price, key project construction fees, primary and middle school fee collection, finished oil price, train ticket and other fees are being carried out by authoritative departments concerned.

State Development Planning Commission official said that this year China would further strengthen supervision over market price and various standards of fee charging at various levels in China.

The move aims to create a better environment for China's economic development and social stability.

China will further crack down on unauthorized fee charging in rural areas. Statistics from 28 provinces and cities in China tell that some 330 million yuan of unauthorized fees has been retrieved and returned to the farmers.

China will continue to make investigations into agro-products' prices and various fee collections to lighten farmers' burden.

Education, medical-related fee charging and prices concerning with consumers' interests will be the focus of price work this year, unauthorized fee collection will be put under control. Irregular market pricing will be curbed to protect consumers' lawful rights and interests.

(People's Daily January 9, 2002)