The Chinese government has put on its work agenda the collection of fuel tax, a senior official said in Beijing Tuesday.

To impose fuel tax has been widely discussed in China for long and more and more people have voiced the necessity of the tax, said Zhang Guobao, deputy director of the State Development and Reform Commission.

Most people held that it was the best time to begin collecting the tax when the price of crude oil dropped, but "we've failed to see that drop," said Zhang at a press conference of the State Council Information Office.