Chinese Government to Give Up Control of Edible-Salt Industry

(Beijing) — China's domestic salt monopoly has existed far longer than the Great Wall, but its days are numbered.

The government has decided to abolish its millenniums-old control over edible salt on Jan. 1, as the country faces a glut of the essential mineral. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, made the announcement Sunday.