China's weekly farm produce prices continue rising

BEIJING - Prices of farm produce in China continued to pick up last week, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce Tuesday.

From Aug 26 to Sept 1, the overall price of farm produce climbed 2.4 percent on a weekly basis, expanding from the 2.3-percent increase in the previous week.

In breakdown, the average wholesale price of 30 types of vegetables went down 2.8 percent week on week, and that of six types of fruits registered a 1.3-percent drop during the same period.

The wholesale prices of pork and beef increased 8.9 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, and that of mutton went up 1.9 percent.

Egg prices saw a 3.9-percent growth from the previous week while flour prices remained flat during the period.

In addition, edible oil saw a slight rise in the wholesale price with soybean oil and peanut oil edging up 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Food accounts for about one-third of China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation.

Official data showed China's CPI rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in July, driven by higher fruit and pork prices.