英闻天下——377 China to Reform Gasoline Pricing Mechanism

 　　China's top economic planner says the country is studying a new fuel pricing scheme to make it reflect the global markets' oil price fluctuations² more swiftly.

 

　　Zhang Ping, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission or NDRC, says the current pricing scheme has 2 major defects, which are the untimely 22-working-day cycle and the 4-percent fluctuation¹ range.

 

　　This means fuel prices on the Chinese Mainland are adjusted when crude oil prices change by more than 4 percent over a 22 working day period.

 

　　Zhang says the current mechanism³ fails to timely reflect the volatility⁴ in global oil prices.

 

　　The most recent oil price hike fell on the Lantern Festival and went against the downward trend of crude oil prices.

 

　　Zhang says the plan to reform the current pricing mechanism will shorten the 22-working-day cycle and remove the 4-percent fluctuation limit.

 

　　Zhou Dadi, a researcher with NDRC, says they're now considering more than just international crude oil prices.

 

　　"We formed our price based on the international crude oil price; however, other elements are also put into consideration such as cost of domestic oil refining, transportation and marketing⁵. Meanwhile, we also left a room for taxes and a reasonable profit for oil firms."

1 fluctuation   

n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动

参考例句：

• The erratic fluctuation of market prices are in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。
• Early and adequate drainage is essential if fluctuation occurs.有波动感时，应及早地充分引流。

2 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。