Quotable

"It's not the case that the lower the price of public resources, the better. No city can operate the subway system by merely relying on financial subsidies. The subway network in Beijing is expanding tremendously, and this momentum cannot be sustained if the price of subway tickets stays at the current low level."

Guo Jifu, director of the Beijing Transportation Research Center, talking on Wednesday about the expected rise of subway ticket prices. The current flat rate of 2 yuan (32 US cents) has been in place since 2007.