China warns gasoline retailers not to hoard, profiteer

The Chinese government Saturday cautioned gasoline retailers about hoarding and profiteering, while urging its major gasoline producers to do their best to increase supplies of gasoline and other finished oil products.

Apparently in responses to short supplies of gasoline as reported in some southern Chinese cities, the State Development and Reform Commission, the government's major social and economic development affairs department, said in a circular that all companies engaged in wholesale and retailing business of finished oil should not board and profiteer.

The commission also urged China National Petroleum Corp. and China Petrochemical Corp., the country's gasoline producers, to make their utmost efforts to increase supplies and control exports of finished oil in order to meet domestic market demands.

It said the two companies and wholesale and retailing business involved should strictly follow government's policies regulating prices of finished oil.

According to the circular, local government departments in charge of overseeing pricing affairs should step up efforts to make sure the government's policies and regulations on finished oil pricing are followed, and deal with any wrongdoing accordingly, including raising their prices without prior government permissions.

Oil is one of the very few products whose prices are strictly controlled by the Chinese government. The government has not raised gasoline prices in the past few months despite rising oil prices on the international markets as part of its efforts to control inflation.

Chinese oil refineries suffered heavy losses last year due to rising prices of crude oil on overseas markets and some oil companies chose to export gasoline for better prices.