Guangzhou Municipality, Administration of Pricing in Connection with the Operation of Markets Provisions

Promulgated: December 11 2000
Effective: January 1 2001
Applicability: For the purpose of the Provisions, a "market" means a venue lawfully set up by a market operator for several lessees to deal in consumer goods, production materials and factors of production; and a "pricing" means the market operator's provision of the venue and related services in return for rent and service charges (Article 2). The Provisions apply to "pricing acts" occurring between venue lessees and market operators (Article 3).

Main contents: The Provisions prohibit a market operator from recovering its investment in the market from any payment other than rents (Article 7). The market operator may not collect rent in advance but it may require a security deposit up to an amount equal to three months' rent (Article 8). If the market operator raises the rent significantly, the pricing authority may take measures to intervene (Article 9). If the market operator provides on-site services such as cleaning, security, landscaping and payment of utility charges, it may collect a service charge from the lessees (Article 10). However, the market operator may not charge anything for telecommunications service arranged directly by the lessees themselves (Article 14). Nor may the market operator charge the lessee for advertising expenses incurred in promoting the market as a whole (Article 15).
Related legislation: PRC, Pricing Law, Dec 29 1997, CLP 1998 No.2 p51 and Guangdong Province, Implementation of the«PRC, Pricing Law» Procedures, Jun 15 1999