In most cases, fuel prices were not the cause of these protests, Green said, but they point to the risk of upheaval China faces: Each year, 20 million people move to cities from the countryside in search of work.
“The mandate of the Communist Party is economic development,” Green said. “This is why it is so hard for them to ration energy demand.” Still, the Chinese leadership has been gradually allowing fuel prices to increase, although its domestic state-run refineries still sell gasoline at a loss.
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