China's top economic planner has asked an auto association to collect data on the price of foreign cars sold in the world's largest automobile market, in the latest inquiry into pricing of foreign products in the country. The National Development and Reform Commission wants the data to check whether foreign car makers are manipulating prices or setting minimum retail prices for dealers, Luo Lei, a deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday. Such activities would be illegal, he said.
"The NDRC is checking price information in a variety of industries and the auto sector is just one of the industries," Mr. Luo said. It isn't clear whether the data the auto association said it was collecting on behalf of the NDRC would result in a full investigation. Officials at the NDRC on Wednesday didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.