No price reforms for natural gas

The head of the price department of the National Development and Reform Commission says China will not change the price of natural gas by the end of this year. Cao Changqing also said the country will not issue a reform plan for natural gas pricing this year.

China's central and eastern provinces are facing the worst natural gas shortage in years due to a severe cold front that has swept across the country. Earlier in the year, producers lacked incentives to expand output due to poor margins. Many analysts had expected that a natural gas pricing reform plan would be issued by the end of the year.

Experts say the NDRC delayed the reform plan due to inflation pressures, and rising gas prices would push costs up for many companies. But analysts say that a gas pricing plan will have to be implemented sooner or later, as a second pipeline transmitting natural gas from the country's west to the east will be opened by year's end. Experts say reforming the structure that sets gas prices is urgently needed.