SHANGHAI (Bloomberg) -- China, the world’s second-biggest energy user, cut fuel prices for the second time in a month to reflect the decline in global oil prices and reduce costs for factories as the economy slows.

The gasoline price will be reduced by 140 yuan ($20.5) a metric ton, or 2 percent, and diesel by 160 yuan a ton, or 3.2 percent, starting tomorrow, according to a statement by the National Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday and the official Xinhua News Agency.
The benchmark crude oil price in New York has slumped 73 percent from its July peak of $147.27 a barrel because of the global recession. Growth in the world’s fourth-biggest economy has slowed for five consecutive quarters as exports from toys to electronics fell.
“We can expect at least another 20-30 percent price cut in the first quarter of this year to align China prices with fallen overseas prices,” Gordon Kwan, the director of China oil and gas research at CLSA Ltd., said in an e-mail on Wednesday.
The Chinese government controls fuel prices to limit their impact on inflation. The nation cut the ex-factory price of gasoline and diesel by as much as 18 percent on Dec. 19.
The government also imposed a ceiling on retail fuel to replace benchmark prices to allow room for China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and PetroChina Co., the nation’s largest refiners, to lower charges in a weak market.
“Today’s move shows the government will adjust domestic fuel prices more frequently and bring them closer to global markets,” said Qiu Xiaofeng, an oil analyst with China Merchants Securities Co.