China raises retail fuel prices

BEIJING: China will raise the retail prices of gasoline and diesel starting Friday, the country's top economic planner said Thursday. Based on changes in international oil prices, the retail prices of both gasoline and diesel will be raised by 50 yuan ($7.4) per tonne, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Under the current pricing mechanism, if international crude oil prices change by more than 50 yuan per tonne and remain at that level for 10 working days, the prices of refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel in China will be adjusted accordingly. The NDRC has demanded that major oil companies, including China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petrochemical Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, should work to ensure stable supply and implement the pricing policy.

The economic planner said it would closely monitor the effects of the current pricing mechanism and make improvements in response to global fluctuations. China's consumer prices and producer prices rose less than expected in January, official data showed. China's January producer price index, which measures price increases before they reach the consumers, rose 0.1 percent from a year ago, lower than the expected 0.3 percent rise, statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

For the second month in a row, the index hit the lowest since September 2016. In December, the PPI grow 0.9 percent year-on-year, according to the bureau.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.7 percent over the previous year, lower than the expectations of a 1.9 percent growth, the data showed.