China's state planner will raise the retail price of gasoline by 120 yuan per tonne and diesel by 115 yuan per tonne from Thursday.

That's the second hike in less than a month. The National Development and Reform Commission said in January that it would not lower domestic fuel prices while oil prices were below 40 US dollars a barrel. Benchmark Brent crude futures have rallied more than 70 percent from multi-year lows under 30 US dollars a barrel in the first quarter. That was due to falling U.S. production, supply constraints in Libya and the Americas, and a weak dollar.