China cuts domestic petrol prices

China has surprisingly cut the retail price of petrol and aviation fuel for the first time in 19 months.

Petrol prices have been cut by 3.8% but the prices in the much larger diesel market have been left unchanged.

Oil refiners China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) have been told to lower prices from Sunday.

Refiners have been processing at a loss for over a year and had been hoping to return to profit as crude prices fall.

There are close to three million private cars in China and parts of the country have been hit by petrol shortages.