At 9:20 pm on June 29, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced a plan for the adjustment of refined oil prices, raising the prices for gasoline and diesel by 600 yuan per ton, and for aviation kerosene by 1,030 yuan per ton. It is the fourth time that the refined oil prices have been adjusted this year.

NDRC announced at the same time that the price for liquid gas will remain relatively stable, and some discounts will be offered to the fishery industry in order to protect it. It also required relevant petroleum enterprises to ensure market supply.

People's Daily Online had an exclusive interview with Niu Li, an expert on oil issues at the National Information Center, regarding this price increase.

Niu believes that the current international crude oil price has increased by over 22 percent compared with the price on March 25, when the refined oil price was last raised. From this perspective, domestic refined oil price should also be adjusted accordingly.

He also believes that refined oil prices are an important lever influencing economic and social development, and government-controlled price adjustments have a rationale in the current transitional period.

During the previous period, China's national policies focusing on maintaining growth have attained noticeable results. The sharp downward momentum of the economy has slowed, and the economy has started to recover. At present, it is necessary to evolve into a comprehensive development stage to maintain both growth and livelihood of the public as well as to pay attention to structural adjustments. Focus should not solely be maintaining growth, but more attention should be paid to strategic and structural adjustments surrounding energy efficiency and emission reduction.

In light of the current macro environment with no inflationary pressure, CPI has recorded a drop for four consecutive months, and PPI recorded a drop for six consecutive months. These two indices are expected to continue declining over the next several months. Therefore, the current adjustments to refined oil prices will not lead to inflationary pressure.

Not only will the increase in refined oil prices stimulate oil refining enterprises to expand output and cut losses, it will also bring about a positive impact on the domestic market supply.