Energy, education and investment guidelines among issues addressed

The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Commerce have recently responded to a set of questions from the public and addressed matters of public concern.

Stronger regulation on natural gas pricing amid surging demand

On Dec 19, the NDRC, the top economic planner, ordered local authorities to strengthen regulation on the pricing of heating and natural gas during the upcoming holidays as demand for natural gas may surge. The NDRC said in a statement that heating prices for households converting from coal to gas should be regulated more strictly during the New Year and the Spring Festival. Authorities should punish those who fabricate and spread information on price hikes, engage in price rigging and fixing, or make arbitrary charges for installing heating equipment, the NDRC said. The move came amid surging natural gas demand in China as millions of households switched to gas from coal for heating this winter to help combat air pollution. The country's natural gas consumption rose 18.9 percent year on year in the January-November period, 12 percentage points higher than that in the first half and more than 8 percentage points higher than the average growth in the previous five years, according to NDRC data.