盐业体制改革(yányè tĭzhì găigé):Salt industry reform

On Thursday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced a plan to reform the country's salt industry, in a bid to shake up the State monopoly of the production and sale of table salt, dismantling a system that has been in place for more than 2,000 years.

The State control over the salt sector reportedly began around the seventh century BC.

Under the current system, Chinese companies are licensed to produce and distribute table salt under a national quota system.

According to Thursday's statement, the reform will allow salt producers to determine their own production scale and market their salt directly, rather than selling only to State distributors, while the price controls will be scraped from 2017.

It said the government will not approve new producers and wholesalers in the business, but encourage existent entities to reorganize through mergers and acquisitions, drawing in private capital.

Experts said the reform is conducive to releasing market dynamics and increasing the competitiveness of enterprises.

It is expected that there will be fluctuations in salt prices for a long time after the reform takes effect, and therefore there should be an effective mechanism to monitor and stabilize salt prices.