"With the new price, I will save around 100 yuan (13 U.S. dollars) a month," taxi driver Wang said Sunday after hearing the new price for 93# gasoline.

China announced Sunday morning it would lower gasoline prices by 220 yuan (about 28 U.S. dollars) per ton. In Shenyang, a city in northeastern China, the price of market standard 93# gasoline immediately dropped 0.15 yuan per liter.

Wang told reporters at a gas station that his taxi consumed 20 liters of gasoline a day, or 600 liters a month. A 0.15 yuan price cut per liter meant 90 yuan less in fuel expenses each month. "That's an extra 90 yuan for me."

Chinese drivers have experienced a series of gasoline price hikes in recent years. As international oil prices have soared, China has raised petrol prices 12 times since 2003, including twice in 2006.

The last time for a price cut was in May 2005.

Liang Jian, a private car owner in Shenyang, said he would save20 yuan a month with the new price. "It's not much, but it shows that we can now benefit from the decline in international crude oil prices."

 International crude oil prices have dropped since September. New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) prices for February delivery of light, sweet crude oil stood at 51.88 U.S. dollars per barrel last Thursday, the lowest price since May 2005.

Lower international prices have seen domestic consumers calling for price cuts, and proposals from experts for a pricing mechanism that will link domestic refined oil prices more closely with international levels.

However statistics show that the domestic price regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission, has kept refined oil prices relatively low compared with international levels, even when the prices on the international market leapt up.

The Chinese government has endeavored to map out a pricing system for refined oil that takes account of conditions in China. But the fluctuating international oil price has made things difficult.

Experts said cutting domestic refined oil prices may create the opportunity to levy a fuel oil tax, which was first proposed in 1994 and has been delayed out of fears that it would impose too heavy a burden on those who consume most oil, such as taxi drivers.

Editor: Donald