The Chengdu price bureau has issued a "caution letter" to all drug dealers in the city calling on them not to raise drug prices randomly for no legitimate reasons.

The caution letter seriously advises all drug dealers to strengthen their discipline in pricing, operate business with integrity, observe price laws and regulations, and shoulder social responsibility. The letter stresses that: all drug dealers must proactively organise product sourcing to guarantee market supply; drug dealers may not make up or spread news about price increases, viciously stock up inventory or use other means to jack up drug prices for profiteering, but instead, they should conscientiously maintain the normal order of the market prices of drugs; for drugs with prices subject to market regulation, the dealers may not push up prices randomly. Moreover, drug dealers must mark their prices clearly according to law, and may not sell their products at a price higher than the marked price or charge fees that are not indicated.

To those who make up and spread news about price increases, viciously stock up inventory or use other means to jack up drug prices to an excessive level, the supervisory department will confiscate their illegal proceeds and impose a fine not exceeding five times the amount of the illegal proceeds. For cases not involving any illegal proceeds, a fine ranging from Rmb50,000 to Rmb500,000 will be imposed. Where the case is serious, the offender will be ordered to suspend business and make rectification, or the industry and commerce administration department will revoke its business licence. Cases constituting criminal offence will be referred to the public security department for handling.

At present, price departments at all levels in Chengdu have opened a 24-hour hotline for reporting price-related offences. Citizens coming across any drug dealers who push up prices randomly can call the hotline and lodge a complaint.