China suspends oil price adjustment

BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner said on Thursday that it would keep domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged as global Oil prices have not fluctuated significantly in the past two weeks.

Under the current mechanism, prices of refined Oil products are adjusted when crude prices change by more than 50 yuan (7.46 U.S. dollars) per tonne for gasoline and diesel over a period of 10 working days.

Thursday's suspension came after four consecutive hikes in fuel prices, with the latest one on Feb. 28.

The economic planner said it would closely monitor the effects of the current pricing mechanism and make improvements in response to global fluctuations.

International Oil prices are likely to fluctuate within the current range in the near term, the economic planner said, adding that it will watch closely over U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and Iran as well as declines in Oil output of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.