The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced Tuesday a long-expected new gasoline pricing mechanism.

With the new mechanism, domestic prices will be more market-oriented and reflect international price changes in a more timely manner, analysts said.

Under the new mechanism, which takes effect starting Wednesday, domestic oil product prices will be adjusted every 10 working days, and the previous criteria of a 4 percent international price change has been canceled, the NDRC said in a statement posted on its website.

Under the previous pricing mechanism for oil products, released in May 2009, the NDRC adjusted domestic prices if the average price of Brent, Dubai and Cinta crude oil changed by 4 percent over 22 consecutive working days.

The NDRC said that the reference basket of Brent, Dubai, and Cinta crudes will also be altered, but did not make clear which oil will be chosen as the new reference basket.

"Possible price manipulation may be a concern for the NDRC and a reason for choosing not to announce the new reference basket," Chen Qing, a senior analyst at industry information provider SCI International, told the Global Times Tuesday.

Along with the new mechanism, the NDRC also announced the first cut in domestic oil product prices this year. Starting from Wednesday, domestic gasoline prices will be lowered by 310 yuan ($49.9) per ton, and diesel prices by 300 yuan per ton.

International oil prices have dropped by 5.6 percent since the previous price adjustment on February 25, according to commodity information provider Zibo Zhongyu Information Technology. After the adjustment, retail gasoline prices in most areas of China will be under 8 yuan per liter again.

"A lower gasoline price is good news of course, but I hope that the NDRC will announce the calculation method, in order to convince consumers about the price changes," said Liu Zhi, a Beijing-based engineer.

But Chen from SCI International noted that it is not very likely that the NDRC will announce the calculation method, also due to manipulation concerns.

The previous pricing mechanism had been accused of lagging behind international changes and causing losses in the oil refining sector, which relies heavily on oil imports.

"Losses in the refining sector will be reduced, since the retail prices will more closely reflect changes in cost prices under the new mechanism," Chen said.

Domestic oil giant PetroChina reported a loss of 33.6 billion yuan in its refining business in 2012. Sinopec also saw a loss of 11.9 billion yuan in the sector in 2012, according to the companies' financial reports.

"The timing is good for the NDRC to announce the new pricing mechanism, as international oil prices are not likely to see an obvious increase in the short term, which is good for average consumers," said Wang Jintao, chief analyst at Zibo Zhongyu Information Technology Co.

The NDRC said in the statement that it will consider delaying price changes if international prices show abnormal increases.