The international price of crude oil slightly rebounded to $71.74 a barrel Wednesday after plunging below $70.40 a barrel this week, which could bring on oil price adjustments in China.

Crude oil jumped 0.32 percent Wednesday and futures fell as much as 1.2 percent in New York. In London, the Brent crude index fell $0.16 to settle at $71.68 on the ICE futures exchange.

The slide resulted from the European debt crisis, high US inventories of crude and concerns over the global economic recovery.

"The US economy is looking good but still we have to watch carefully the situation in Europe," Ken Hasegawa, a sales manager at broker Newedge, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. "It's possible for crude oil prices to go down again below $70."

Oil prices have dropped about 20 percent since hitting an 18-month high of $87.15 on May 3.

Analysts expect domestic oil prices to decrease soon. "Anything could happen in the short-term," said Liu Gu, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities.

"If the international crude oil price would stabilize around $70 per barrel, it would be a very good thing for China."

"The aviation and transportation industries would benefit from the possible oil price fall," said petrol analyst Zhong Jian in Shanghai. "Auto sales should be stimulated by the oil price adjustment."

China raised retail gasoline and diesel prices by 4-4.5 percent last month, while the price of retail oil has remained unchanged since November last year.

The country adjusted domestic oil prices eight times last year, including five hikes and three cuts. "A domestic oil price drop could reduce enterprises' costs and ease China's growing inflationary pressures and international calls for revaluation of the renminbi," Liu said.

In April, China's consumer prices rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Food prices jumped 5.9 percent, up from March's 5.2 percent growth rate.

Prices of some agricultural products - such as garlic and mung beans - are surging in China, while corn and cotton prices are also growing.

China has maintained the yuan at a rate of about 6.83 per dollar for nearly two years. The US and the European Union are urging revaluation of the yuan.

"China will reform its exchange rate regime, but at its own pace," Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday at the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

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