Taxi drivers in China are as honest of dishonest as in other parts of the world. I have encountered both. From the driver who tried to take a long route to the airport and over-charge me - i knew the price it should have been. To the driver who turned the meter off when he got lost trying to find the hotel, and i got the last 15 minutes for free.

It depends on the driver. I've had ones who wait for me to settle in and then play the whole 'my meter is broken; let me suggest charging you 60kuai for this ridiculously short trip?' game (they usually cluster near the subways in laowai-heavy parts of the city). I've also had one who let me out near a subway stop instead of my original destination (because I was in a hurry, and the traffic was nuts--even for Beijing--at that time of day), and wouldn't even take the full amount i owed him.

They have some dishonest one's and some honest ones'. I now know a few of the places to find the dishonest one's. Unlike your story a lot of the one's I've seen don't negotiate it's 100 rmb or they won't take you. 

I have had mostly good and honest taxi drivers in Shenzhen but there are always a few that will try to rip you off so you just need to be careful.

Currently I am in a small factory town outside of Hangzhou and ALL the taxi drivers here refuse to use the meter and always pick up other people on the way to maximize their profit...but at least it's cheap...pretty much 10 kuai to go almost anywhere in town.

Supply and demand...if demand is high for taxis then rest assured they will try to nail you every time. 

Next time just get into the taxi...say where you are going...if he tries to negotiate just point to the meter...if he says no just refuse to leave the taxi...if he causes more problems then take a picture of his ID card...that will shut him up fast.

A new guy from the states working for the same company as I am was charged 400rmb for his taxi ride from the airport to his hotel here in Changsha. The whole journey should have cost him just 100 rmb. But the driver snatched the other 300 from his hand when he pulled his money out.

However, I accidentally lefty my wallet with all my cards and around 600 rmb on the back seat once. The driver actually chased me down the road to give it back to me when he noticed it was on the chair.

My experiences echo that of the posters above: I've had good and bad. In general I think taxi drivers are not too bad and I am aware that they struggle to keep afloat financially. In such a climate, it is inevitable that some bad drivers take advantage of passengers for extra gain. I have also noticed that the attitude of drivers changes in different situations. For example, when there is a heavy storm they suddenly have more power because everyone is struggling to get a taxi. At these moments, you see many drivers who won't turn on the meter. On Saturday nights it's the same. Taxi drivers in places with many drunk people are likely to be a lot more ruthless. Overall though I think the majority are not people.

I've had both. One who returned my passport when I lost it drunk one night (I gave him a 200 yuan reward).

Another swore black and blue he was never at the address he dropped me at when I lost my wallet in his taxi. His car and it's number plate were clearly visible on the security video, but the police still insisted I should believe him.

I think they reflect the society. The general dishonesty in China is mapped onto the taxi driver. The only other place I have had problems with taxi drivers have been Athens and Istanbul. In Athens I got kicked out of a taxi because the driver was offended that I used seatbelt, I did not have to pay for the 500 meters I had been driven, by chance I got out right where there was a usable train for me. In Istanbul I had a driver circle a block an extra time to crank up the meter a bit. According to the concierge at my hotel I had cost me about 10% extra (not a lot of money actually) He drove well and helped with mu suitcases. 

In China it happens in 1 of 10 times they just "forget" to start the meter. 1 in 3 times when we take a taxi from home to downtown we have to argue what direction is the shorter. 

Meh, I think it's not the occuptation, but the person. In the 3.5 years I lived in Beijing I only ever got ripped off one time. 

i hate it, taxi drivers in guangzhou are terrible, they even do it to chinese people, but ive learnt my lesson,ive been in this city just over a year so i know all the routes and tell the driver hes going the wrong direction if tries anything, if it comes to an argument and he says his way is faster i will just tell him dont worry we can go my way that you can earn more money. the worst is if you are at the airport or railways station at night, no metro no bus the only way to get home is via taxi and they all say 100-150rmb or if they say no i dont want to drive there i might not find a customer once i get there, bloody cunts their job is to drive not to pick and choose customers  and fares