A water price hike for residents in east China's Shanghai, the first in seven years, is expected after the city held a public hearing into the issue on Monday.

Twenty-one public representatives who attended the hearing gave consent to a price rise, but differed on the amount of the increase.

Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the city's price watchdog, proposed the water price for residents should be raised by at least 40 percent on average.

The proposal incurred opposition from the majority of representatives.

"Most of the them think that a rise of 20 to 25 percent is more reasonable," said Zhao Jiaoli, secretary general of Shanghai's consumer protection committee.

"They also called for more efforts on the water quality improvement and subsidies to low-income groups after the price hikes," he said.

Two new pricing schemes were discussed at the hearing. The first proposes a single-price system, with the charge lifted to 2.8 yuan (40 U.S. cents) per cubic meter from the current 1.84 yuan.

The other scheme proposed a progressive water pricing system where residents would have to pay more for using extra amounts of water in order to encourage conservation.

A household would be charged 2.61 yuan per cubic meter if its monthly water consumption is less than 15 cubic meters. Families would need to pay a higher price for each cubic meter in excess of that. The unit price would double for amounts exceeding 25 cubic meters a month.

Both schemes had supporters at the hearing.

"We are always ready to hear more voices on the schemes from more people and make improvements," said Shen Niandong, chief economist with the Shanghai Price Bureau.

He declined to say when the plan would be finalized.

"Everything needs further discussion," Shen added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2009)