The enactment of the Price Law is a necessity to create a fair competitive environment for the reasonable formation of prices and to optimize the allocation of resources in the market. The role of the market allocation of resources is mainly through the market supply and demand conditions and resource scarcity of price signals to guide the realization. The formation of reasonable prices is the basic conditions of fair competition in the market environment, and fair competition in the market environment must be regulated by law.
The enactment of the Price Law is to regulate the market order, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of operators and consumers, and to promote the conversion of the business mechanism, the need to enhance the activities. On the one hand, the vast majority of goods and services to implement market-regulated prices, set prices by the operator and through the law to protect the autonomy of the operator's pricing; on the other hand, the market price behavior is still very unregulated, indiscriminate price hikes, price fraud, price misinformation and other improper pricing behaviors are more prevalent, the need to be restrained by law.
The enactment of the Price Law is to enhance the government's ability to regulate prices, strengthen and improve macroeconomic control needs. In order to overcome and make up for the defects and deficiencies of the market mechanism, the government is necessary to carry out effective macro-control of market prices and the necessary moderate intervention. It is also necessary to regulate the government's own price behavior by enacting price laws. The Price Law applies to price behavior occurring within the territory of the People's Republic of China*** and the State.
The applicable space of the Price Law is within the territory of the Chinese People's **** and State. The Law is applicable to the price behavior of foreigners and foreign-invested enterprises within the jurisdiction of China. In accordance with the relevant laws of "one country, two systems", the Price Law is not implemented in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The object of application of the Price Law is price behavior. The Price Law applies to the price behavior of all types of market players, including the government, operators and consumers. The price behavior here includes both the pricing, price adjustment, price marking, as well as price assessment, price forensics and other price behavior of the operator, and the government's price management, price regulation, price supervision and inspection of price behavior, but also includes consumer participation in pricing and price supervision and other behavior.
The object of price behavior is price. The Price Law limits the scope of prices to commodity prices and service prices. Commodity prices include the prices of all kinds of tangible products and intangible assets, and service prices include all kinds of paid service charges. Commodity prices are categorized into prices of tangible products and intangible assets according to whether the commodity has a physical form or not. Tangible products refer to products with physical form and material carriers, including all kinds of agricultural and sideline products, industrial means of production and consumer goods, construction products and so on. Intangible assets refers to long-term use without physical form of assets, including patents, non-patent rights, trademarks, land use rights and so on.
Specific scope of service prices: First, the current so-called various operational charges, that is, enterprises, institutions for profit, with the help of certain premises, equipment and tools to provide operational services charged. Such as: post and telecommunications tariffs, photography, cleaning, tourism, intermediary agency service fees. Secondly, the current so-called utility charges, that is, the government-run institutions in the process of providing public **** services to the community, in accordance with relevant state policies and regulations, in order to make up for or partially make up for the cost of services and fees charged. The main ones are medical care, education, consulting fees, inspection fees, and so on. In addition, what is currently referred to as administrative fees is a special form of price, due to the complexity of the reasons, the Price Law provides in principle, the specific management of the State Council separately. The Price Law clearly stipulates that China's basic price system is "to implement and gradually improve the mechanism of price formation mainly by the market under macroeconomic control". Market-formed prices are the core of the socialist market price system, which requires that prices be returned to exchange and formed through market competition. The prices of the vast majority of goods and services are to be determined through competition between operators and operators, between operators and consumers, and among consumers. In market competition, formally enjoying the right to set prices, the operator is actually subject to the domination of prices, any individual operator can not independently and subjectively determine the market price, but can only accept the price determined by the market supply and demand relations, and with reference to this price to constantly adjust the direction and scale of production and operation, and thus give rise to the factors of production in the different sectors, the reasonable flow of different commodities between. The market mechanism of price formation is an inherent price tends to rationalize the automatic adjustment mechanism, it is this highly flexible, automatic adjustment of the price formation mechanism, can timely commodity operators and consumers to provide a true reflection of supply and demand price signals, the limited human, financial, material and other economic resources continue to optimize the allocation of the flow of social production of various areas, promote the production structure and consumption structure to adapt to In order to achieve the purpose of rational allocation of resources and proportional distribution of total social labor. However, the market formation of prices has limitations, sometimes with a certain degree of blindness and lagging. For this reason, the state must carry out macro-control of prices, the focus of regulation is to control the overall level of prices, and mainly through the regulation of the total amount of supply and demand to realize. On the micro specific prices, in addition to a very small number of direct management, the vast majority of direct intervention by the state, mainly through the balance of the macro total, regulating the supply and demand for commodities, fostering and developing the market, limiting monopoly, promote competition, standardize and guide the price of enterprise behavior to influence the formation of prices and changes.
Compatible with the conversion of China's basic price system, in accordance with the pricing body and the formation of different ways, the Price Law stipulates that China to implement the market-regulated price, the government-guided price, the government pricing of the three forms of price formation, of which market-regulated price in the market price mechanism plays a dominant role.
Market-adjusted price refers to the price set by the operator independently and formed through market competition. Government-guided prices are set by the government price authorities or other relevant departments, and government pricing is set by the government price authorities or other relevant departments in accordance with the authority and scope of pricing.
The main rights and obligations of operators
Operators should cherish the basic rights granted by the Price Law in their pricing activities, i.e.: to set prices that are market-adjusted; to set prices within the range stipulated by the government-guidance price; to set the trial prices of new products within the scope of government-guidance and government-priced products; to denounce and complain against infringement of their right to set prices on their own; and to propose adjustments to government-guidance prices and government-priced products. Government guidance prices, government pricing to propose adjustments.
Obligations and rights exist at the same time, the operator in the price activities should comply with laws and regulations; the implementation of the legally established government guide price, government pricing; clearly marked prices; the implementation of the legal price intervention measures, emergency measures; follow the principle of fairness, legality, honesty and trustworthiness; to the competent authorities in charge of the price to provide the price management and supervision and inspection of the necessary information. 1. Collusion with each other to manipulate market prices, to the detriment of the legitimate rights and interests of other operators or consumers. Competition is the essential attribute of market economy, price competition is an important way and means of market competition between operators. Manipulation of market price is the operator to eliminate or limit price competition economic behavior, is a direct use of price for unfair price competition.
2. In addition to the legal price reductions to deal with fresh commodities, seasonal commodities, backlog of commodities and other commodities, disrupting the normal order of production and operation, to the detriment of national interests or the legitimate rights of other operators. Judge whether it constitutes below-cost dumping behavior, a look at the means, that is, to see whether its pricing is below cost. The second look at the purpose, i.e., whether it is an attempt to expand market share through below-cost pricing, so as to achieve the purpose of weakening or even expelling competitors. Third, look at the consequences, that is, whether it disrupts the normal order of production and operation, damage to national interests or the legitimate rights and interests of other operators. Such as triggering vicious low price competition, hindering or threatening the establishment, survival and development of competitors, resulting in loss of national tax revenue.
3, fabrication, dissemination of information on price increases, price gouging, and promote excessive rise in commodity prices. Price gouging is an intentional disruption of market order, especially in the supply of commodities in short supply, fabrication, spreading information about price increases, may cause commodity prices to rise too high, resulting in chaos in the market order, causing consumer panic, the formation of economic and social instability.
4, the use of false or misleading price means to entice consumers or other operators to enter into transactions with them. The use of price means fraud, is a price fraud. Mainly: false price reductions, falsely claiming price reductions but in fact no price reduction; fuzzy markup, with fuzzy language, text, units of measurement, etc. to indicate the price. It not only harms the interests of other operators and consumers, but also undermine the normal market order, resulting in disruption of economic life.
5, providing the same goods or services, price discrimination against other operators with the same trading conditions. Price discrimination refers to the operator to provide the same grade, the same quality of goods or services, so that the recipients of the same trading conditions in the price in an unequal position. For example, enterprises A and B with the same conditions are treated differently in terms of price because A is a local enterprise and B is a foreign enterprise. Price discrimination puts the buyers with the same conditions in an unequal position, hinders the legitimate competition between them, and has the harm of restricting competition.
6. Adopting such means as raising the grade or lowering the grade to acquire, sell goods or provide services, and raising or lowering the price in disguise. Disguised price increases and disguised price reductions are detrimental to the interests of the state and consumers. Disguised price increases generally occur more in short supply, such as: cutting corners, substandard, adulteration, lack of catty; disguised price cuts generally occur in the case of oversupply, such as: the acquisition of commodities, the pressure level of the scale; sale of commodities to reduce the grade, etc..
7, violation of laws and regulations for profiteering. The Price Law called profiteering, refers to the huge profits obtained in a short period of time through improper price means. Profiteering behavior is a serious deviation from the value, but also does not reflect the relationship between supply and demand, undermining the market economy, the basic law of equal exchange, fair competition, serious damage to the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Profiteering also provides operators with false price signals, misleading the direction of investment, undermining the rational allocation of resources and distorting the industrial structure. To this end, in 1995, approved by the State Council, the State Planning Commission issued the implementation of the "Interim Provisions to Stop Profiteering", and each region has formulated the relevant implementation rules, defining the standards of profiteering and reasonable profits.
8, laws and administrative regulations prohibit other improper price behavior. This refers to the above seven, the "Price Law" has not been listed, but the actual economic life of the other unfair price behavior will arise. The Price Law reflects the protection of consumer rights and interests in the following aspects:
1. Consumers have the right to participate in pricing. Government price authorities and other relevant departments to set government-guided prices, government pricing, should listen to the views of consumers; to seek the views of consumers.
2. Consumers may propose adjustments to government guide prices and government pricing.
3. Consumers have the right to social supervision of the government and operators' price behavior.
4, consumers have the right to report price violations.
5, operators are obliged to provide consumers with reasonably priced goods and services, the operator sales, acquisition of goods and the provision of services should be clearly marked price, shall not be in addition to the marked price increase in the sale of goods, shall not be charged any unmarked fees.
6, the operator due to price violations resulting in overpayment by consumers, shall refund the overpayment, resulting in damage, shall be liable in accordance with the law. In the Chinese people's *** and the price behavior within the territory of the State, the application of this Law.
The prices referred to in this Law include commodity prices and service prices. Commodity prices refer to the prices of all kinds of tangible products and intangible assets.
Service prices refer to all types of paid service charges. The state to implement and gradually improve the macroeconomic control mainly by the market mechanism for price formation. Price setting should be in line with the law of value, the majority of commodities and service prices to implement market-regulated prices, a very small number of commodities and service prices to implement government-guided prices or government pricing.
Market-adjusted prices, refers to prices set by the operators themselves, formed through market competition.
The operators referred to in this Law are legal persons, other organizations and individuals engaged in the production and operation of goods or the provision of paid services.
Government-guided price means the price set in accordance with the provisions of this Law by the competent government department in charge of prices or other relevant departments,
Government pricing means the price set in accordance with the provisions of this Law by the competent government department in charge of prices or other relevant departments, in accordance with the authority and scope of pricing. The competent price department of the State Council is uniformly responsible for price work throughout the country. Other relevant departments of the State Council, within their respective areas of responsibility, is responsible for the relevant price work.
The competent price departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level are responsible for the price work in their own administrative areas. Local people's governments at or above the county level, other relevant departments within their respective areas of responsibility, is responsible for the relevant price work. Operators conduct pricing activities, enjoy the following rights:
(a) to independently set prices that are market-regulated;
(b) to set prices within the range specified by the government guidance price;
(c) to set trial prices for new products that fall within the scope of government guidance price and government pricing products, except for specific products;
(d) to report and complain against infringement of its right to set prices independently in accordance with the law. Operators selling and acquiring goods and providing services shall, in accordance with the provisions of the competent government price authorities, clearly marked prices, indicating the name of the commodity, origin, specifications, grade, unit of valuation, price or service items, charges and other relevant information.
The operator shall not sell goods at an additional price to the marked price, and shall not charge any unmarked fees. Operators shall not engage in the following unfair pricing practices:
(1) colluding with each other to manipulate market prices to the detriment of the legitimate rights and interests of other operators or consumers;
(2) in addition to price reductions in accordance with the law to deal with commodities such as fresh and live commodities, seasonal commodities, and commodities in backlog,
(3) fabricating and spreading information about price increases, inflating prices, and pushing up the prices of commodities to an excessive level;
(d) Using false or misleading price means to lure consumers or other operators to enter into transactions with them;
(e) Providing the same goods or services, and price discrimination against other operators with the same trading conditions;
(f) Adopting the means of raising the grade or depressing the grade and other means of acquiring and selling goods or providing services, disguised as Raise or lower prices;
(vii) violation of laws and regulations for profiteering;
(viii) other unfair price practices prohibited by laws and administrative regulations. Prices of the following commodities and services, the government may, when necessary, government-guided prices or government pricing:
(a) the price of a very small number of commodities that have a significant relationship with the development of the national economy and people's lives;
(b) the price of a small number of commodities of scarce resources;
(c) the price of commodities operated by a natural monopoly;
(d) the price of important public utilities (v) Prices of important public welfare services. The pricing authority and specific scope of application of government-guided and government-priced prices are based on the central and local pricing catalogs.
The central pricing catalog is formulated and revised by the competent price department of the State Council, and reported to the State Council for approval before publication.
Local pricing catalogs are formulated by the price authorities of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Pricing Catalog in accordance with the pricing authority and the specific scope of application of the Central Pricing Catalog, and are approved by the people's governments of the respective levels, and then reported to the price authorities of the State Council for validation and publication.
Local people's governments at levels below the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall not formulate pricing catalogs. The competent price department of the state council and other relevant departments, in accordance with the central pricing catalog pricing authority and the specific scope of application of the formulation of the government guide price, government pricing; of which the government guide price of important commodities and service prices, government pricing, shall be approved by the state council in accordance with the provisions.
Provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central People's Government price authorities and other relevant departments, should be in accordance with the local pricing catalog pricing authority and the specific scope of application of the development of the implementation of the government guide price, government pricing in the region.
The people's governments of cities and counties may, according to the authorization of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, formulate the government guide prices and government pricing for implementation in the region in accordance with the pricing authority and the scope of application of the local pricing directory. Government price authorities and other relevant departments to develop government guidance prices, government pricing, should carry out price and cost surveys, listen to the views of consumers, operators and relevant parties.
When the government price authorities carry out price and cost surveys on government guidance prices and government pricing, the relevant units shall reflect the situation truthfully and provide the necessary books, documents and other information. The specific scope of application of government guidance prices, government pricing, price levels, should be based on economic performance, in accordance with the provisions of the pricing authority and procedures for timely adjustment.
Consumers and operators can make suggestions for adjustments to government-guided prices and government pricing. When the prices of important commodities and services have risen significantly or are likely to rise significantly, the State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may take intervention measures such as limiting the rate of spread or profit margins on some of the prices, stipulating price limits, and implementing a system of declaration of price increases and a filing system for price adjustments.
Provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central People's Government to take the intervention measures provided for in the preceding paragraph shall be reported to the State Council for the record. The competent government price authorities may exercise the following powers and functions when carrying out price supervision and inspection:
(1) to question the parties or the persons concerned, and to require them to provide supporting materials and other information relating to price violations;
(2) to inquire into and copy the books, documents, vouchers, papers, papers and other information relating to price violations, and to verify the Bank information;
(iii) checking the property related to the price violation, and if necessary, may order the party to suspend the relevant business;
(iv) in the case of evidence that may be lost or difficult to obtain in the future, it may be registered and preserved in accordance with the law, and the party or the person concerned shall not be transferred, concealed or destroyed. Consumer organizations, employee price supervision organizations, residents' committees, village committees and other organizations, as well as consumers, have the right to social supervision of price behavior. Government price authorities should give full play to the public price supervision.
News organizations have the right to price public opinion supervision. The government price authorities shall establish a reporting system for price violations.
Any unit or individual has the right to report price violations. The government price authorities shall give encouragement to the informer, and is responsible for the confidentiality of the informer. Operators have one of the acts listed in Article 14 of this Law, shall order rectification, confiscate the illegal income, and may impose a fine of up to five times the illegal income; no illegal income, shall be warned, and may also impose a fine; the circumstances are serious, shall be ordered to suspend business rectification, or by the administrative organs for industry and commerce revocation of business license. Relevant laws on the penalties for the acts listed in Article 14 of this Law and the punitive authority otherwise provided, may be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws.
The behavior listed in Article 14 (a), (b) of this Law, belonging to the national, by the State Council department in charge of prices; belonging to the provincial and sub-provincial regional, by the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central People's Government, the competent department in charge of prices. State administrative organs of the charges, should be carried out in accordance with the law, strict control of charges, limited to the scope and standard of charges. The specific management of fees and charges shall be formulated separately by the State Council.
Interest rates, exchange rates, insurance rates, securities and futures prices, the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations shall apply, not this Law. This Law shall come into force from May 1, 1998 onwards.