Research On Current Situation And Countermeasures Of Shanghai’s Reform Of Water Price

Shanghai is a typical city which faces the shortage of good quality water problems. Although the total water resources are abundant, drinking water resources are seriously scarce. Since the 2009 water price adjustment, water price has gradually become a common concern in the society. Deepening the reform of water price is not only an important means to strengthen the management of water resources and maintain water enterprise’s normal production and operation, but also help to achieve the goal of energy saving and emission reduction ways of economic development as well as protecting the economic security and social stability. Therefore, orderly water price reform is an important issue that must be addressed by the relevant government departments. Nowadays, academic research from educational circles of water price reform is not enough. Thus this paper will be an important theoretical and practical complement in this field.This paper introduces the water price reform measures and progress during the "Eleventh Five-Year" period and analyzing the major difficulties of Shanghai water price reform based on the theory of public goods pricing, domestic and international research. Those difficulties include how to improve the water price mechanism system; how to regulate the structural system of water price; how to promote the sound development of water supply and drainage enterprises and how to implement the subsidy policy for the low-income groups etc. Comparing with Singapore, Tokyo, Shenzhen and other cities, they have effective water price policy such as water price standards, pricing mechanisms and characters. And this paper put forward the objectives, principles and basic ideas as well as specific measures of Shanghai water price reform. For example, improve the pricing and adjustment mechanism; improve the water price structures; focus on the supervision and examination of the water costs; enhance the public participation in the price management mechanism; making new policies which reflect support for the water industry and price reducing; establish subsidy policies for the low-incomes and other supporting policies.