The Chinese government has increased prices for petrol and diesel by 10%, the ninth price rise since July 2003, according to China Daily.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The retail price of 93-octane petrol is now 5.09 yuan ($US0.64) per litre.
The newspaper reported that car dealers are predicting that more people would choose to buy small-engine cars to save fuel costs or hesitate to buy. It quotes an online survey on www.sina.com.cn, which concluded that nearly 87% of the 80,000 people surveyed said they would reconsider plans to buy a car.
The government is increasing prices to take them closer to international market standards, and to promote fuel efficiency.
Low domestic fuel prices have been making it difficult for local oil refiners to make a profit, and encouraged wastage.
