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China will open its petroleum and refined oil market by the end of next year in compliance with commitments made when it entered the World Trade Organization, a commerce chamber representative was quoted by the China News Service as saying.
Gong Jialong, president of the Petroleum Chamber of Commerce, affiliated to the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, made the remark here Wednesday at a high-level seminar on energy strategy.

At that time, international petroleum giants will enter the Chinese market, and the country's oil prices will fluctuate on the basis of market supply and demand, Gong said.

China's oil prices are still controlled by the government, partly adjusted according to the fluctuation of international oil prices.

Currently, the domestic refined oil price per ton is about 1,000 yuan (about 120 US dollars) lower than the international price, Director Zhou Dadi of the Energy Research Institute of the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) was quoted by the China News Service as saying.

If China's oil price fluctuation is exactly in line with that of the international market, that will affect China's economic growth, said Zhou.

The SDRC decided to cut the price of gasoline by 150 yuan per ton beginning Tuesday. The price cuts are a response to price fluctuations in global oil markets, a SDRC notice said.