Pricing reform aims for market system

The National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, has decided to further deepen pricing reform in monopolized industries, such as electricity, natural gas and railways, as the central government looks to perfect its market-oriented pricing mechanism by 2020.

China will improve trading rules and regulations for the electricity market, deepen the market-based reform of natural gas prices for nonresidential users, and accelerate construction of natural gas trading centers in Shanghai and Chongqing, Hu Zucai, viceminister of the NDRC, said on Friday.

A favorable pricing policy environment will be created to attract social capital to projects related to railway construction and operation, he added.

According to the commission, efforts will be increased to promote market-oriented pricing reform, improve supervision and allow the pricing mechanism to guide resource allocation in order to achieve highquality, efficient, fair and sustainable development.

The regulator has said it will focus on several fields, including monopolized industries, public utilities and services, environmental protection and agriculture, and will regulate the pricing mechanism based on the principle of “costs plus a reasonable return”.