A Chinese customer buys table salt at a supermarket in Qingdao city, east China's Shandong province, 20 November 2014. China is to end a monopoly ov
Image details
Contributor:
Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
W8WDCRFile size:
17.2 MB (478 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
3000 x 2002 px | 25.4 x 17 cm | 10 x 6.7 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
20 November 2014Photographer:
ImaginechinaMore information:
A Chinese customer buys table salt at a supermarket in Qingdao city, east China's Shandong province, 20 November 2014. China is to end a monopoly over the production and sale of table salt, dismantling a system that has been in place in various guises for more than 2, 000 years and run by a state monopoly since 1950. The move reflects China's drive to deregulate state-run sectors to encourage greater competition among firms and tackle market inefficiency. "The overall direction of reform for the salt industry will be to reduce the role of government in business operations and to end the monopoly on edible salt, " China Central Television said, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China is the world's biggest consumer of salt, including that used in the chemical industry, according to mineral consultancy Roskill Information Services. With a population of more than 1.3 billion, it accounts for nearly a quarter of global demand in 2012. The disbanding of the salt monopoly will start in 2016 and should be complete by 2017, the state broadcaster said.