Sound Credit System Is a Three-way Street

In future, if someone’s cellphone account is overdue, the details will be recorded on his or her personal credit files. This has come about after the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Information Industry reached an agreement on credit control in late April, which stipulates that blacklisted defaulters may be denied future loans from financial institutions.

However, this new policy is quite worrisome. The mishandling of cellphone charges by telecom companies occurs so often, making it unfair to blame all late payments on users. More importantly, the cooperation between banks and telecom operators seems to indicate that the two monopoly industries are jointly imposing restrictions on clients, disregarding the latter’s legitimate rights.

A well-developed social credit system involves three parties: the government, enterprises and individual citizens. In this case only the individual citizens’ credit is emphasized, while the other two can still behave irresponsibly, meaning that the credit system must be questionable.

In China, what damages the social credit system is not the lack of credit on the part of individual clients, but on the part of some government departments and enterprises (especially the monopoly ones). For example, erroneous charges by telecom operators of cellphone users allegedly amount to 7 billion yuan every year, almost equal to annual payment arrears. Until telecom companies improve their services, the users’ credit files that they offer to banks must be seen in a skeptical light.

Since the banking and telecom regulators have decided on the credit file system, relevant government departments and monopoly industries must also pull their weight.

Yanzhao Metropolis Daily

Transparent Governance Gains Speed

This April 24 saw the promulgation of the Regulations on Open Government Information, another important measure adopted by the Central Government to improve government transparency following the establishment of a spokesperson system from top through bottom, mandatory public hearings on government decision-making and the opening up of government affairs online.

It has been proved that when decisions and policies are made known to the public, corruption cannot flourish.

Some are afraid of the chaos that open administration may incur. They must have underestimated the public’s judgment. The active involvement of the public in government affairs can actually help the latter to work out more rational policies. At the same time, the public will better accept policies that respect their opinions.

Closed-door politics tends to damage the government’s image. For example, some local governments deliberately conceal mine accidents, which, after exposure by the media, undoubtedly have a negative impact on public confidence in the government.

The Regulations on Open Government Information will come into effect on May 1, 2008. It is hoped that more tangible actions will follow to make government affairs more transparent.

People’s Daily

Water Conservation Means More Than Raising Prices

It is said that Chinese urban citizens’ average expense for water consumption only accounts for 1.17 percent of their per-capita disposable income. Given this situation, some people have suggested raising water prices, believing that higher rates will help to enhance people’s awareness of water conservation. Actually, compared with other countries, China’s water prices are not really low. In the United States, every cubic meter of water costs $0.597 (about 4.6 yuan), but the average Americans’ income is 20 times higher than ours.

When water prices were raised in 2004, water-guzzling industries were targeted. The government encouraged enterprises in these sectors to use more reclaimed water. The problem is, although the price of reclaimed water per ton stood at 1.7 percent of fresh water, users were reluctant to accept it as an alternative option for safety and other concerns. As a result, fresh water consumption remained huge.

Therefore, when dealing with such issues as water conservation, the government should not always turn to price hikes as a solution before a careful analysis of the reasons behind the problem.

Shanghai Securities News

People-oriented Medicine Price Is a Priority

Hai Wen, Vice President of Peking University, said recently that the government must refrain from regulating medicine prices, which are dictated by the market, through administrative means. Hai also suggested increasing doctors’ salaries in order to reduce their enthusiasm for exchanging power for cash. If this is the case, where will doctors’ salaries come from? Suppose doctors’ salaries come in the form of government subsidies, it’s a violation of the market rule and will go against professor Hai’s own suggestion. If however, there are no government subsidies, doctors have to turn to patients for money. In the latter case, the market rule is followed, but the patients have a lot to pay.

In terms of other commodities, one can choose to buy or not to buy. However, in the case of medicine, it is different. If a person is ill, he or she must buy the medicine. If the government stands by and does not regulate already soaring medicine prices, seriously ill patients may simply be waiting to die without the means to afford what they so desperately need.

Guangzhou Daily