A public hearing on a proposed water price hike was held in Beijing Wednesday.

Altogether 24 representatives of residents, industrial users, lawmakers, political advisors, scholars, social groups, government officials and water companies attended the hearing.

A resident who was on the representative list asked for a sick leave Wednesday, but she had submitted a written document to express her opinion.

The public hearing was held by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and was broadcast live on the commission's official website www.bjpc.gov.cn..

The hearing began at 9 a.m..

Authorities in Beijing are planning to raise water price by about 24 percent to discourage residents from wasting water and ease shortages.

The price of water for residential use will rise from 3.7 yuan (54 U.S. cents) to 4.6 yuan (67 U.S. cents), according to a proposed plan unveiled earlier this month by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

The government would offer subsidies to low-income families to ensure their living standard not to be affected by the hike.

Beijing, a city of 17 million, has been grappling with water shortage over recent years.

The city has been plagued by droughts in nine consecutive years in the past decade.

Government data show that the per capita water availability is only 300 cubic meters, far below the internationally recognized warning line of 1,000 cubic meters.

Over the past five years, Beijing has invested more than 4 billion yuan ($586 million) in the conservation of water resources and construction of water supply projects.

Last month, the city raised the price of water for non-residential use by up to 48.6 percent.

A number of other Chinese cities are also planing to or have decided to raise water prices, such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Chongqing.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2009)