As of Wednesday, the average international crude price was lower than 40 U.S. dollars a barrel, the floor set by the Chinese government, in the past 10 working days, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
Under the current pricing mechanism, China will adjust domestic prices of refined oil products when international crude prices translate into a change of more than 50 yuan (about 7.08 U.S. dollars) per tonne for gasoline and diesel for a period of 10 working days, but will not do so if the international prices go below the floor of 40 U.S. dollars or above the ceiling of 130 U.S. dollars a barrel.
China slashed prices of gasoline and diesel to a level corresponding to 40 U.S. dollars a barrel on March 17 amid the global oil price collapse.
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