Current prices 'unacceptable,' residents say

A growing number of residents are upset about increasing consumer prices in the fourth quarter, with almost half of the respondents feeling current prices are "high and unacceptable", according to the latest survey of the People's Bank of China.

About 46.8 percent of respondents said current prices are too high to accept, up from last quarter's 45.2 percent. The index measuring expectations for future price increases grew by 6.6 percentage points to 73.4 percent, officials from the central bank said yesterday when releasing the results of the quarterly survey among residents in 50 cities in the mainland.

A number of cities including Beijing, Jinan, Lanzhou and Ningbo are reportedly planning to raise water prices.