BEIJING: Petrol and diesel prices have been cut for the second time in a month in China amid growing government efforts to reverse a sharp slowdown in the economy.

China Daily reported Saturday that the reduction came after an interest rate cut, the country's first in nearly four years.

Beijing is unveiling new measures almost daily to shore up growth that slowed to 8.1 percent in the first quarter and is expected to decline further.

The National Development and Reform Commission said Friday that retail fuel prices will be cut by more than 5.5 percent, the deepest since December 2008, in tandem with the global slump in crude oil prices.