Hainan vows to stop price gouging

HAIKOU - Officials from South China's Hainan province on Thursday reiterated the island's "zero tolerance policy" toward price gouging at tourist attractions during the peak travel time and vowed a stern crackdown over the next three months.

"We will not allow one rotten apple to ruin the whole barrel," said Lu Zhiyuan, director of the Hainan tourism development commission and a deputy to the ongoing plenary session of the provincial people's congress.

Lu's remarks came after the administration of industry and commerce in Sanya city on Wednesday decided to revoke the license of a seafood restaurant called Fulinyucun, which was found guilty by official investigation of fraudulent pricing practices.

The restaurant labeled two types of seafood with fabricated names and overcharged customers, according to an official statement jointly released by the administration and local bureau of price control.

The two departments probed into the case after Luo Di, whose identity was confirmed by micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, said online on Jan 28 that his friend's family ordered three ordinary dishes and the restaurant charged them 4,000 yuan ($636). The post was forwarded and commented on thousands of times by netizens, some of whom complained of similar experiences in the tropical vacation destination.

Another restaurant was fined 500,000 yuan on Thursday for price gouging, the statement said.

Wu Caigui, who has run a seafood restaurant for more than a decade by a scenic spot near Sanya, applauded Sanya government's crackdown.

Lu Zhiyuan, director of the Hainan tourism development commission, is interviewed by reporters in Haikou, Hainan province, on Thursday, at a plenary session of the provincial congress. Huang Yiming / China Daily