A natural gas price increase kicking off in China on Wednesday will significantly boost the profitability of Chinese gas companies, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

The rating agency said the price rise is credit positive for China's upstream natural gas suppliers, particularly China National Petroleum Corp, which supplies around 70 percent of the natural gas that the country consumes. The National Development and Reform Commission said on June 28 it will increase the wholesale price of natural gas for non-residential users and expand the use of a market-based pricing mechanism.