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中國計劃取消鹽業專營，這標志著一個已有近2700年歷史的制度的終結。《北京青年報》援引工業和信息技術部的話稱，此舉是為了促進競爭。
中國的經濟規劃者數年來一直試圖取消鹽業專營制度，但遭到控制鹽類分銷的國有企業中國鹽業公司及擔心物價及食品安全的消費者的反對。
學者傅羅文(Rowan K. Flad)在《古代中國的鹽業生產和社會等級》(Salt Production and Social Hierarchy in AncientChina)一書中寫道，早在公元前685年，山東半島的齊國就開始對鹽業生產進行壟斷，但這種制度或許出現得更早。
在這種制度下，政府指定鹽類生產商，禁止將鹽運送至授權地區之外的地方。鹽類貿易長期以來一直是政府的重要收入來源，在一定程度上帶來收益，為中華帝國偏遠前哨的士兵提供軍餉。
隨著中國實現工業化，鹽業專營制度對總稅收的貢獻大幅減少，但仍然發揮重要作用。最近，也就是在1990年代中期，由于兒童食用的食物缺乏碘，中國出現了廣泛的可預防的發育性殘疾問題。1995年，中國下令生產加碘鹽，以減輕這一問題，政府利用了鹽業專營制度來實施該規定。
研究發現，自實施上述規定以來，缺碘水平大幅降低。
消費者長期以來一直反對終結鹽業專營制度的舉措。中國問題學者詹姆斯·賴利(James Reilly)在2011年出版的《強大的社會，聰明的國家》(Strong Society, Smart State)一書中寫道，相關機構在2009年提議取消專營制度，但網絡調查顯示，大多數參與調查的人希望政府繼續控制，中央政府最終放棄這一提案。《外交政策》(Foreign Policy)雜志指出，隨著一些網絡評論引起人們對有毒工業用鹽與食鹽混雜在一起的現象的關注，這種擔心再次出現。
一些學者曾辯稱，國家壟斷制度實際上在一定程度上造成了食鹽遭到污染的現象，在改革制度的同時實施食品質量法律應該有助于提高安全性。在2010年的一篇論文中，武漢大學的孫晉、范舟、秦麗指出，食鹽專營意味著，市場上的鹽價比中國鹽業公司從授權生產商手中收購的價格高出兩到三倍。
這些作者寫道，雖然由于食鹽在平時的雜貨開銷中所占比例較小，普通消費者沒有感覺到價格差別，但這種利潤支撐著一個規模龐大的、有害的地下市場。他們指出，這種食鹽通常不含碘，可能含有有害雜質。（中國進出口網）
China plans to scrap its state monopoly on the sale of salt, marking the end of a system withnearly 2,700 years of history. The move is intended to bolster competition, the Beijing YouthDaily reported, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China’s economic planners have tried for years to eliminate the monopoly, but facedopposition from the China National Salt Industry Corporation, the state-owned agency thatcontrols salt distribution, and from consumers concerned about prices and food safety.
A monopoly on salt production was introduced as early as 685 B.C. in the state of Qi on the Shandong Peninsula, though it may have existed even earlier than that, the scholar Rowan K. Flad writes in “Salt Production and Social Hierarchy in Ancient China.”
Under the system, the government designated who could produce salt, and the shipping of salt outside authorized districts was banned. The salt trade was long a significant source of revenue for the state, and helped provide revenue and pay for troops in far-flung outposts of the Chinese empire.
As China has industrialized, the contribution of the salt monopoly to overall tax revenues has greatly diminished, but it has still served important functions. As recently as the mid-1990s, China experienced widespread problems of preventable developmental disabilities because of a lack of iodine in children’s food supply. In 1995, the country mandated that edible salt be iodized to reduce the problem, and the salt monopoly was used to enforce that rule.
Studies have found a significant reduction in levels of iodine deficiency since the requirement was put in place.
Consumers have long complained about efforts to end the salt monopoly. When a proposal was put forward to eliminate the system in 2009, the central government backed down in the face of online opinion surveys that showed a majority of respondents wanted the government controls to remain in place, the China scholar James Reilly wrote in his 2011 book “Strong Society, Smart State.” Those concerns have revived again, as online comments have raised concerns about the inclusion of toxic industrial salts being mixed with edible salt, the magazine Foreign Policy has noted.
