China shortens oil pricing period

BEIJING - China will adjust prices of oil products every 10 working days to better reflect changes in the global oil markets, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Tuesday.

Previously, domestic fuel prices were adjusted when crude oil prices in Brent, Dubai and Cinta changed by more than 4 percent over 22 working days.

The new pricing system also cancels the 4-percent floating band for oil price changes, the NDRC said at a press conference.

The old mechanism, which was introduced in 2009, has been criticized for failing to reflect oil price changes on the international markets.

The commission also announced cuts to the retail price of gasoline by 310 yuan ($49.43 ) per tonne and diesel by 300 yuan per tonne starting Wednesday.

The cuts, which were still made according to the old pricing system, marked the first of its kind in the year following a price rise on February 25.

The benchmark retail price of gasoline will be lowered by 0.23 yuan per liter and diesel by 0.26 yuan per liter.

The NDRC said that price adjustments under the new system may be suspended, postponed or downsized in special cases -- when there are sharp rises in domestic inflation, emergencies, or dramatic swings in global oil prices.

The government will appraise the operation of the system annually and make changes to improve it when necessary, the NDRC said.

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