Fruit sellers to receive reimbursements

A local government in central China's Henan province has promised to reimburse fruit retailers whom urban management authorities had charged as much as 500 yuan ($78.5) for an umbrella and a rain shelter.

On Sunday, the chengguan, or urban management bureau in Gongyi, a county-level city in the city of Zhengzhou, refunded deposit money that roadside fruit sellers had paid to rent 78 rain shelters and 14 umbrellas, the local government said on its micro blog that afternoon.

The statement came in response to public criticism that arose after local authorities were reported to have sold the rain shelters and the umbrellas to the retailers at high prices.

Since mid-June, fruit farmers who went to Gongyi's downtown to sell their produce were made by local authorities to pay 300 yuan for a rain shelter and 200 yuan for an umbrella or they wouldn't be allowed to sell their fruit in the urban area, according to a report that appeared in Dahe Daily.

A fruit seller surnamed Li told the newspaper that he had to sell as much as 312 kilograms of watermelon to cover the expenses of the rain shelter and the umbrella.

The news report drew fierce criticism from netizens, many of whom suspected local authorities had no right to force the fruit sellers to buy rain shelters and umbrellas.

The local government said in a statement released on Friday that the rain shelters and the umbrellas were given to the fruit sellers for free but they had to pay 500 yuan as a deposit for them, money that would be refunded after they had returned the equipment.

The government said rain shelters and umbrellas will be provided for free to fruit sellers and that the local government welcomes supervision by the news media.