premise: In the urban areas, the water price may continue to rise by 50 to 100 percent over the next five years to curb the squandering of scarce water resources, according to Qiu Baoxing, vice construction minister.
  But Qiu said the rise of water prices would be gradual. He noted that water costs of 5 U.S. dollars per cubic meter in Boston, or 2.5 euros in France, would not work in China.
  "People's income in China is very low, and we have to think about their ability to accept (a price rise)," Qiu said. "We are not preparing for a large price increase."
   What caused China to avoid a large price increase?
hypothesis: ability to accept (a price rise