Beijing ups taxi subsidies after petrol price rise

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Beijing city authorities have raised subsidies for taxi drivers this month to soften the impact of a 10 percent increase in petrol prices, while freezing taxi fares for now, state media said on Sunday.

China raised gasoline and diesel prices this month for the first time in 17 months, seeking to appease loss-making refiners and address widespread fuel shortages.

But the government has said it would compensate the hardest-hit consumers such as taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers in an effort to limit the impact of the rise on consumer prices, with inflation running near a decade high.

Beijing's taxi drivers will get an extra 110 yuan ($14.8) month from November, bringing the total subsidy launched in 2005 to 780 yuan per month, official Xinhua News Agency said.

The city, which has bout 67,000 taxis, will refrain from raising taxi fares until petrol prices hit 6.10 yuan ($0.82) a litre, or 14 percent above the current price, Xinhua said quoting the municipal government.

In recent years, Beijing's taxi drivers, have staged several strikes in protests against fuel price increases. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Editing by Tomasz Janowski)