China's farm produce prices retreat for 7th straight week

BEIJING - Prices of farm produce in China continued to decline last week, edging down for seven weeks in a row, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Wednesday.

From April 6 to 12, the overall price of farm produce went down 0.4 percent on a weekly basis.

In breakdown, the average wholesale price of pork dropped by 1.6 percent from the previous week, while that of 30 types of vegetables edged up 0.6 percent.

Poultry-related products fluctuated in a small range with the wholesale price of eggs up by 0.7 percent and that of chicken down by 0.1 percent week on week.

Food accounts for about one-third of China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation. The latest official data showed China's CPI rose 4.3 percent year on year in March, easing from the 5.2-percent growth for February.