China's latest fuel price rise triggers public debate

BEIJING (Xinhua) — China’s latest fuel prices hike, which is intended to reflect rising international crude cost, sparked widespread debate as consumers grumbled that the record domestic prices were even higher than those in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer.

The 9-10 percent state-set price rise in gasoline and diesel as of June 30, the second in a month, forced the Chinese motorists to pay more than 3 U.S. dollars a gallon, compared to an average of 2.69 U.S. dollars a gallon in the United States last week.

According to a survey by the Chinese web portal sina.com, 94.3 percent of over 260,000 respondents thought fuel prices are too high now.

“We have to pay one-eighth more than the U.S. consumers, but we earn only one-fifth of their income. It is really confusing,” said a netizen from Guangdong Province.

“Why is it so easy to see a domestic price rise when international prices rally, but so hard to see a price cut when global prices fall?” asked a netizen from Sichuan Province.

Xinhua