China to lower retail fuel prices

China will slash the per-tonne retail prices of gasoline by 245 yuan (39.84 US dollars) and that of diesel by 235 yuan, starting from Monday, the country's top economic planner said on Sunday.

The adjustment will lower the benchmark retail prices of gasoline by 0.18 yuan per liter and that of diesel by 0.2 yuan per liter, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on its website.

The NDRC's last adjustment of the retail fuel prices was on Sept. 13, when it raised gasoline and diesel prices by 90 yuan and 85 yuan per tonne, respectively.

Under the country's new pricing regime, which came into effect in March, domestic fuel prices are adjusted when international crude prices reflect a change of more than 50 yuan per tonne for gasoline and diesel over a period of 10 working days.

Global oil prices declined amid easing Middle East tensions and US budget concerns.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery decreased 0.16 U.S. dollar to settle at 102.87 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday, while Brent crude for November delivery lost 0.58 dollar to close at 108.63 dollars a barrel.

The moving average of a basket of crude oil prices, to which China's refined oil prices are pegged, declined 3.35 percent as of September 27 from the latest fuel prices adjustment, according to Xinhua's calculations.