There were long lines at Beijing's gas stations last night as cab drivers and other motorists rushed to fill up the tank before a 16% increase in fuel prices came into effect at midnight.
The price hike, which was decided upon by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and announced by Xinhua at about 7pm last night, will see the price of the regular #93 fuel increase from the current RMB 5.34 to RMB 6.2 a liter.
Energy prices will also go up as of July 1.
This is the first price rise since last October when prices rose 10% from RMB 4.9 to 5.34 a liter. To that we're not sure of is how this will affect taxi prices in the capital. Last year's price hike was accompanied by an increase in the subsidy paid out to cabbies, rising to RMB 780 a month, but, as of this morning, no announcement has been made about changes to subsidies.
The Beijing News quote a driver as saying that "without increased subsidies, it will become very difficult for Beijing's taxi drivers to endure the price rise." At the time of last year's price rise, People's Daily quoted the municipal development and reform commission as saying it does not plan to raise the taxi fares before the gasoline price hits 6.1 yuan per liter - they've just hit 6.2.
