The recent 8-percent price cut by a joint venture fuel company, despite lasting just a day, triggered widespread concerns from the NPC and the CPPCC and rekindled the debate on whether oil price control should be eased in China.

State-owned oil producer China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) responded to these concerns by cutting the price of its major oil products by up to 0.2 yuan in Beijing.

"The 8-percent price flexibility has almost been forgotten because of the price monopoly by national oil giants CNPC and Sinopec Grassroots consumers will not benefit from national policies unless the price monopoly is shattered," said Feng Shiliang, a CPPCC National Committee member.

Total-Sinochem Fuels, a joint venture established by Total and Sinochem focusing on oil products retail, dropped the retail price for gasoline by around 8 percent when it opened two new stations in Beijing recently.

NPC deputy Ling Yu had predicted the price cut would trigger widespread ripple effects for Sinopec and CNPC to follow suit. PetroChina CNPC's listed arm and Sinopec, however, denied such a possibility yesterday.

"The price cut this time is just a normal promotion campaign by our Beijing branch, in line with the national policy. We have no unified plan yet to launch a nationwide price war," Zhang Anping, a press official with PetroChina told China Daily. CNPC's campaign will last a month in Beijing.

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