"Price rises are inevitable in natural-gas pricing reform. Nearly 30 percent of China's annual consumption of natural gas is imported, and the proportion is increasing. The domestic price of natural gas should fluctuate with that in the international market."

Han Xiaoping, an energy expert in Beijing, discusses a price increase for natural gas in Changchun, Jilin province. Officials in Changchun said on Monday the natural gas price rise in the city was "only an individual case".