Action on road tolls

How much can be expected of the year-long campaign against illegal or unreasonable tolls on most of the country's highways? It will depend on how heavy the penalties the central government will mete out for their local counterparts that extort motorists by setting up more tollgates or charge more tolls than they should.

Five central government departments - the ministries of transport, finance, supervision, National Development and Reform Commission and State Council Office for Rectification of Unhealthy Working Styles - jointly launched the campaign on Monday.

The move aims to close the tollgates that collect more money than needed to repay the loans for the construction of the expressways, lower the overpriced tolls and reduce the total number of tollgates to a reasonable amount.