The Hebei provincial commodity price bureau, education department and finance department are jointly holding an online public price hearing on the introduction of credit-based fee system for students advanced by seven universities including Yanshan University and Hebei University of Technology on Monday.

This is the first time that a public price hearing has been conducted online. Unlike a traditional public hearing that selects a limited number of people to attend, any resident aged 18 or over can participate in Hebei's online public price hearing and express their opinion and offer suggestions.

Officials of the Hebei provincial commodity price bureau said that a traditional hearing will only invite about 20 participants to attend, which can hardly solicit a wide range of public opinions on a specific price issue.

Anyone wanting to participate in the public price hearing, should register online with his or her real name beforehand.

Hebei's online public price hearing is a pilot, if it is successful, it could herald online price hearings nationwide.

Holding price hearings online is also expected to make the procedure more transparent.