With gasoline and diesel-fuel prices falling for a third time since May on Wednesday, pressure on policymakers to revise the fuel-pricing mechanism has eased, as has the country's pressure from inflation, said analysts.

China cut gasoline prices by 420 yuan ($66) per metric ton and diesel by 400 yuan starting from Wednesday. The retail gasoline price drops to lower than 7 yuan per liter in most cities after the latest round of cutting.

This is the third consecutive cut since May, but a fourth one is unlikely unless the international market tumbles sharply, said Niu Li, a senior economist with the State Information Center, a government think tank.

China's gasoline and diesel prices are set by the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planning agency, under a mechanism that tracks the 22-day moving average of a basket of crudes comprising Brent, Dubai and Cinta.

The NDRC has earlier implied it would reform the fuel-pricing mechanism by shortening the pricing time and increasing transparency. Industry insiders said a reform proposal has been submitted to the State Council, but has yet to be approved.

However, with global prices falling, analysts and officials have lowered expectations of short-term reform.

"The existing formula will be strictly followed at this stage," said a NDRC official, who declined to be named.

"The existing pricing mechanism will continue to work as the declining global crude oil price has reduced the urgency of shortening the pricing time," said Niu.

Zhou Wangjun, deputy director of the NDRC's price department, said the existing mechanism works "relatively successfully", but it needs to be improved in reducing pricing time and range.

The nation is waiting for an "appropriate time" to revise its fuel-pricing mechanism when international oil prices reach a relatively reasonable level, Zhou said.