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(Adopted
at the 29th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eight National
People's Congress and implementation as of May 1, 1998.)
Chapter
One General Provisions
Article
1 This law is formulated with a view to standardizing price behavior
so as to strengthen their role in rational disposition of resources,
stabilize the general price level of the market, protect the lawful
rights and interests of consumers and business operators and then
promote the healthy development of the socialist market economy.
Article
2 The law is applicable to all the price behaviors that occur within
the territory of the People's Republic of China.
The
term "price" used in the law includes prices of all kinds
of merchandise and prices of all kinds of services.
The
term "price of merchandise" refers to the prices of all
kinds of tangible and non-tangible assets.
The
term "price of services" refers to fees collected for
services rendered.
Article
3 The State shall introduce and gradually improve the mechanism
of regulation of prices mainly through market force and under a
kind of macroeconomic control. Under such a mechanism, pricing should
be made to accord with the value law with most of the merchandises
and services to adopt market regulated prices while only a few of
them to be put under government-set or guided prices.
Market-regulated
prices refer to prices fixed independently by business operators
through market competition.
"Business
operator" used in this law refers to legal persons, other organizations
or individuals that engage in production or marketing of merchandises
or provide paid services.
Government-guided
prices refer to prices as fixed by business operators according
to benchmark prices and range of the prices as set by the government
department in charge of price or other related departments within
their term of reference.
Government-set
prices as fixed by the government department in charge of prices
or related departments within their term of reference according
to the provisions of this law.
Article
4 The State shall support and prompt fair, open and legal market
competition, maintain normal price order and exercise administration,
regulation and necessary control over conduct of prices.
Article
5 The State Council department in charge of prices shall be responsible
for the administration of the work related to prices in the whole
country and other related departments shall be responsible for such
work within their terms of reference.
Price
departments of the people's governments at and above the county
level shall be responsible for the work related to prices within
the regions under their jurisdiction. Price departments of the people's
governments at and above the county level shall be responsible for
the work related to prices within their terms of reference.
Chapter
Two Price Behavior of Business Operators
Article
6 Prices of all merchandises and services, except those as set in
Article 18 of this law to adopt government-set or guided prices,
shall be subject to market regulation to be fixed by business operators
independently according to the provisions of this law.
Article
7 In fixing prices, business operators should follow the principle
of fairness, lawfulness, honesty and trustworthiness.
Article
8 Prices should be fixed by business operators basing on the cost
of production or operation and market supply and demand.
Article
9 Business operators should strive for a better management to their
own production and business operations so as to lower cost and provide
consumers with merchandises and services at reasonable prices while
obtaining lawful profits in market competition.
Article
10 Business operators should establish and improve their system
of internal price management, accurately record and verify the cost
of production or operations for their merchandise or services, in
which any deception or forgery is not allowed.
Article
11 Operators shall enjoy the following rights in pricing:
1.
To fix prices that are subject to market regulation;
2.
To fix prices within the guided range as set by the government;
3.
To fix prices for new products which are subject to government-set
or guided prices, except special products for trial sales; and
4.
To report or claim against actions that have infringe upon their
rights of independent pricing.
Article
12 In their work related to prices, business operators should strictly
keep up with laws, regulations, government guided-prices, government-set
prices, legal price intervention measures and emergency measures
adopted by the government according to law.
Article
13 In marketing and purchasing merchandises or providing services,
business operators should clearly tap the related prices, specify
names, places of origin, specifications, grades, price units, prices
or items, fee collection standards and other related information
according to the government's regulations.
Business
operators must not sell merchandises at prices above the marked
prices or collect fees not specified.
Article
14 Business operators must not act whatsoever in the following ways
to effect abnormal price behaviors:
1.
To work collaboratively with others to control market prices to
great detriments to the lawful rights and interests of other business
operators or consumers;
2.
To engage in dumping sales (except the cases of sales of fresh and
live merchandises, seasonal merchandises and stockpiled merchandises
at discount) at belowcost prices in order to attain an upper hand
over rivals or dominate the market and disrupt the normal production
and operation order to great detriments to the interests of the
State or the lawful rights and interests of other business operators;
3.
To fabricate and spread price rise information for pushing up the
prices to excessively high level;
4.
To resort to deceitful or misleading means in terms of prices to
entice consumers or other business operators into trading in terms
of prices;
5.
To discriminate in terms of prices same kinds of merchandises or
services offered by certain business operators under same trading
conditions;
6.
To disguisedly raise or lower prices at irrational ranges by artificially
raising or lowering grades of merchandises or services;
7.
To seek exorbitant profits in violation of laws and regulations;
and
8.
To effect other illicit price behaviors that are forbidden by law
or administrative decrees.
Article
15 In collecting fees for services rendered, all intermediary organizations
should abide by the provisions of this law, except otherwise provided
by other laws.
Article
16 In a bid to keep the domestic market order, business operators
must observe related provisions of this chapter in selling imported
merchandises or purchasing export merchandises.
Article
17 Organizations of various sectors should abide by laws and regulations
governing prices, persist in self-discipline with regard to prices
and accept guidance from government price departments.
Chapter
Three Price Behavior of Government
Article
18 The government shall issue government-set or guided prices for
the following merchandises and services if necessary:
1.
The few merchandises that are of great importance to development
of the national economy and the people's livelihood;
2.
The few merchandises that are in shortage of resources;
3.
Merchandises of monopoly in nature;
4.
Important public utilities;
5.
Important services of public welfare in nature.
Article
19 Scope of specific items and uses for government-set or guided
prices shall depend on the price catalogs issued by the central
and local governments.
Catalogs
of central government-set prices shall be fixed and revised by the
price department of the State Council an published after the approval
of the State Council.
Catalogs
of prices to be set by departments of the people's governments of
privinces, autonomous regions and municipalities within their power
according to scope of specific items and uses as set in the central
price catalog and be published with the examination and approval
of the people's governments at the same level.
Local
people's governments below the provincial, autonomous regional and
municipal level shall not make their own price catalogs.
Article
20 State Council price department and other related departments
shall fix government-set and guided prices according to scope of
items and uses as set in the central prices and the government-set
and guided prices for major merchandises and services shall get
the approval from the State Council.
Price
departments and other related departments of the people's governments
of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities shall fix indicative
local government-set and guided prices within their respective power
according to scope of items and uses as set in the local price catalogs.
People's
governments of cities and counties may fix government-set and guided
prices for their localities within their own power according to
scope of items and uses as prescribed in the local price catalogs.
Article
21 Government-set and guided prices shall be fixed according to
the average cost and market supply and demand of related merchandises
or services, the economic and social development and the affordable
level of the people, allowing rational price differentials between
buying and selling, between wholesale and retail sale, among different
regions and different seasons.
Article
22 In fixing government-set and guided prices, price departments
and other related departments shall carry out investigations into
prices and costs and hear views from consumers, business operators
and other quarters.
Upon
investigated by government price departments and related departments
in terms of prices and costs, related units should provide true
fact and necessary books, documents and other materials.
Article
23 In fixing government-set and guided prices for public utitities
services of public welfare in nature and the prices for merchandises
of monopoly in nature that are important to immediate interest of
people public hearings presided over by government price department
should be conveyed to solicit views from consumers, business operators
and other quarters to explore the necessity and feasibility.
Article
24 After the government-set and guided prices are determinded, they
shall be made public by the price departments.
Article
25 The scope and level of the government-set and guided prices shall
properly be adjusted in the light of the operation of the national
economy.
Consumers
and business operators may put forward their recommendations with
regard to the adjustment of the government-set and guided prices.
Chapter
Four Control and Adjustment to General Price Level
Article
26 To stabilize the general price level is one of the major objectives
of macro-economic policy. The State shall set targets for the monitoring
and adjustment of general price level in the light of the requirements
of the development of the national economy and the endurance of
the people, list them into the national economic and social development
programs and help their realization through means of monetary, fiscal,
investment and import and export policies and measures.
Article
27 The government shall build a major merchandise reserve system
and establish a price regulation fund to control prices and stabilize
the market.
Article
28 In order to better control prices, government price departments
shall establish a price monitoring system to monitor changes in
the prices of major merchandises and services.
Article
29 Whereas the selling prices of grain and other major farm produce
are too low on the market, the government shall introduce protective
prices and adopt corresponding measures to ensure the protective
prices be put into effect.
Article
30 Whereas prices of major merchandises or services rise sharply
or are likely to rise sharply, the State Council and the people's
governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
may set limit at disparity of prices or rate of profitability for
part of the merchandises, fix price ceilings or introduce other
measures for intervention such as a system for announcing or recording
price rises.
After
adoption of above-mentioned intervention measures, provincial, autonomous
regional and municipal people's governments should report to the
State Council for the record.
Article
31 When such abnormalities as violent fluctuation in the general
price level occur nationwide, the State Council shall introduce
power for the concentrated fixation of prices in the whole country
or part of the regions for the time being or adopt such emergency
measures as freezing part or all prices.
Article
32 The intervention or emergency measures introduced according to
the provisions of Article 30 and Article 31 shall be removed or
lifted in time when the situations that call for such measures disappear.
Chapter
Five Monitoring and Checking of Prices
Article
33 The price departments of the people's governments at and above
the county level exercise monitoring and checking over pricing activities
according to law and mete out administrative punishments on acts
that violate the law.
Article
34 In exercising monitoring and checking of prices, government price
departments shall exercise the following powers:
1.
To inquire into people concerned or related personnel and demand
for evidences or other materials relating to law violating acts;
2.
To look into and duplicate account books, bills, vouchers, documents
or other materials related to price law violating acts and verify
banking materials associated with price law violating acts.
3.
To check property related to the price law violating acts and, if
necessary, order the people concerned to stop business operation.
4.
To register and keep some evidences that are liable to be destroyed
or kept out of hand or is hard to obtain for which people concerned
or related personnel must not in any case remove, hide or destroy.
Article
35 In accepting the monitoring and checking by government price
departments, business operators should provide their account books,
bills and vouchers, documents or other materials needed for such
monitoring and checking.
Article
36 The personnel of government prices departments are wholly prohibited
to use materials or information obtained according to law for purposes
other than price control or reveal business secrets of the people
concerned.
Article
37 Consumer organizations, workers' price monitoring organizations,
neighborhood committees, village committees and consumers have the
right to exercise monitoring over price activities. Government price
departments should give a full play to the monitoring roles of the
people.
Medias
have the right to mobilize public opinion for the monitoring of
prices.
Article
38 Government price departments shall establish a system for reporting
acts of violation of the price law.
Any
unit or individual has the right to report acts of violation of
price law and the government price departments shall encourage such
reporting and undertake to keep secret what concerns concerning
the reporters.
Chapter
Six Legal Liabilities
Article
39 Business operators who refuse to implement the government-set
or guided prices, legal price intervention measures or emergency
measures shall be ordered to correct, have their illegal proceeds
confiscated and be fined concurrently for an amount less than five
times the illegal proceeds. In cases of no illegal proceeds involved,
a fine may still be imposed. For serious cases, they shall be ordered
to stop business operation and make correction.
Article
40 Business operators who have violated one of the acts listed in
Article 14 of this law shall be ordered to correct, have their illegal
proceeds confiscated and be fined concurrently for an amount less
than five times the illegal proceeds. In cases of no illegal proceeds
involved, a warning shall be issued, together with a fine. For serious
cases, they shall be ordered to stop operation for correction or
have their business licenses revoked. If other laws have stipulations
concerning the punishments for acts listed in Article 14 of this
law, the related laws shall prevail.
Whether
acts listed in 1, 2 of Article 14 and are of national in nature
shall be upon the judgment of the State Council price department
and whether the acts are regional in nature, they shall be confirmed
by price departments of provincial, autonomous regional and municipal
people's governments.
Article
41 Whereas business operators have caused overpayment by consumers
or other business operators in violation of price law, the part
in excess of the due payment shall be returned. If damages are done,
the business operators shall undertake to compensate for the losses.
Article
42 Whereas business operators violate the provisions about price
marking, they shall be ordered to correct, have their proceeds confiscated
and be fined concurrently for an amount of less than RMB5,000.
Article
43 For business operators who refuse to stop operation for correction
as ordered or remove, hide or destroy things recorded for keeping
according to law, a fine ranging from over one time to less than
three times the value of the things removed, hidden or destroyed
shall be imposed.
Article
44 Business operators who refuse to provide materials needed for
price monitoring and checking or provide false materials shall be
ordered to correct, with a warning. Whereas they refuse to correct
within the prescribed time limit, a fine shall be imposed.
Article
45 Whereas local people's governments at all levels or related government
departments at all levels fix or adjust prices beyond their terms
of reference or refuse to implement price intervention measures
or emergency measures shall be ordered to correct and may be criticized
by issuing circulars. People in charge or related people directly
responsible shall be given administrative punishments according
to law.
Article
46 Whereas government personnel in charge of prices have leaked
State secrets, commercial secrets or abused their power, resort
to deception for personal gains, commit dereliction of duty or accept
bribes and the cases are serious enough as to constitute crimes,
criminal responsibilities shall be affixed. If a case is not serious
enough to constitute a crime, an administrative punishment shall
be meted out.
Chapter
Seven Supplementary Provisions
Article
47 State administrative organs shall collect fees strictly according
to law, limit fee collection items and scope and standards of fee
collection. Specific administration methods for such fee collection
shall be provided for separately by the State Council.
Interest
rates, exchange rates, insurance premium rates, securities and futures
prices shall be subject to related laws or administrative decrees
instead of this law.
Article
48 The law shall come into force as of May 1, 1998.
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