(Xinhua, Dec 22, 2006) A public hearing to consider a rise of almost eight percent in Beijing's domestic natural gas prices ended here Friday, with few objections heard.

The gas provider, the Beijing Gas Group Limited Liability Company, proposed the price be lifted by 0.15 yuan (two U.S. cents) to 2.05 yuan (26 U.S. cents) per cubic meter, because its purchasing price for natural gas had risen by 0.15 yuan per cubic meter since Aug. 1 last year and the company had paid an extra 110million yuan for household gas by the end of October this year, said Zhou Si, the company's general manager.

The company also needed capital guarantees for pipeline maintenance and infrastructure construction, Zhou said.

The natural gas price was relatively low compared with that of other energies, such as liquefied petroleum gas and electricity, and the city's current domestic gas price was lower than that of other big cities such as Tianjin (2.2 yuan) and Shanghai (2.1 yuan), Zhou said.

The company also proposed to establish a gas price adjustment mechanism based on purchase prices, to be adjusted every three years.

Twenty-one of the 30 public representatives expressed approval for the price hike at Friday's public hearing held by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

"Most of my neighbors told me that an increase of three to four yuan in their monthly bills will not affect their lives that much," said Liu Ruiqian, from the city's Xuanwu District.

About three million Beijing households are hooked up to naturalg as and households using an average of 18 cubic meters of gas per month will see their monthly bills rise by 2.7 yuan (34 U.S. cents) if the price adjustment is adopted.

Five representatives agreed with a price adjustment, but they hoped the rise could be lower than proposed.

Only four voiced objections to the price hike.

"The company's costs increase caused by rise in its purchasing price should be borne by both the company and residents, and should not be borne by the consumers alone," said Wu Jingming, of the China University of Political Science and Law.

He also questioned the gas price adjustment mechanism, saying the public would have little opportunity to scrutinize the future price adjustments if it were adopted.

Other representatives who had objections said that the price hike should take into consideration low income families, who have been hit with a string of price rises for water, electricity, cable TV, rice, edible oil, vegetables and others items.

The government will finalize the price adjustment at a later date after carefully studying opinions from the public hearing and the interests of all walks of life, Lu Yingchuan, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, told Friday's hearing.

The government often holds public hearings before making important decisions concerning the public amid efforts to increase transparency, such as the public hearing on raising the personal income threshold in September last year.

A public hearing may not stop a price rise or bring a price down, but it is a move away from the previous system under which the government suddenly announced a price hike without hearing public opinions beforehand.

The National Development and Reform Commission was criticized by the central government and the public for its approval of postage rise last month without holding a public hearing beforehand.

Source:Xinhua