China raises the consumption tax on oil products beginning Tuesday.
This will be the third increase in as many months, following one on Nov 29 and another on Dec 13.
The sharp drop in the price of crude oil since late June has been grabbing headlines worldwide - and producing a lot of contradictory explanations. Some attribute the fall largely to declining global growth expectations. Others focus on the expansion of America's oil and gas production. Still others suspect a tacit agreement between Saudi Arabia and the US aimed at, among other things, weakening political rivals like Russia and Iran.
The retail prices of gasoline and diesel will be cut by 180 yuan and 230 yuan per tonne after taking the higher tax into consideration, the National Development and Reform Commission announced in a separate statement.
