China urged to open Great Hall to the People

BEIJING, March 3 (Reuters) A Chinese government adviser has urged Beijing's Great Hall of the People to stop charging entry fees, saying that the practice hurts the country's ''democratic image'' and taxpayers are entitled to free visits.

The Soviet-style monolith next to Tiananmen Square is the seat of China's rubber-stamp parliament, which convenes for an annual plenary session on Monday. State leaders have played host to foreign dignitaries there since its completion in 1959.

But the ticket price has rocketed from 0.3 yuan in 1979, when it first opened some of its 100 or so halls to the public, to 30 yuan (), said Han Fangming, an economist who sits on an elite advisory panel that meets alongside the parliament session.

''It is very inappropriate to levy the entrance fee in light of either building the nation's democratic image or the trend of sharing public resources,'' Han said in a written proposal to the panel, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He referred to the seats of Western parliaments which are open to their citizens, citing Capitol Hill as an example.

''Visitors there can even audit all kinds of hearings inside,'' said the proposal, a copy of which was given to Reuters.

''It speaks of a country's democracy ... People can only come here feeling like masters (of the nation) when the Great Hall is free of charge.'' Ticket revenue was in any case paltry when compared with the cavernous hall's maintenance cost, totalling tens of millions of yuan a year, Han added.

''Taxpayers have the right to enjoy public services provided by the state after fulfilling their obligation to pay taxes,'' said Han.

The Chinese Communist Party created everything from parks to education and literature in the name of the people after taking power in 1949, but market reforms have swept the country in the past three decades.

The Great Hall itself has recently begun profiting from plays, musicals and and even pop concerts and also caters to China's newly rich by laying on banquets.

REUTERS PDM RK0928