Society

Price of noodles jumps

By Yan Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-26 08:02

The tug of war between the government of Liuzhou, a south China city, and its rice noodle makers over the prices of the popular snack food could be solved as early as today.

Last Thursday, factories in Liuzhou came together and raised the wholesale prices of raw rice noodles by nearly 50 percent to about two yuan (30 cents) per kg. Their action defied the local government's previous warnings that they would risk receiving a fine of as much as 1 million yuan for violating China's laws against price-fixing, media reported.

The factories' collective move has infuriated residents in Liuzhou, a city of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Netizens have called for a boycott of the food, and the local government has also launched an investigation to reveal the causes of the price hike.

From yesterday, rice noodle makers were ordered to restore the prices to those before last Thursday's increase, until the end of the investigation, local media quoted Bi Zhaotian, chief of Liuzhou's price administration as saying.

The price hike in Liuzhou prompted the owners of restaurants and stands who purchase the raw rice noodles from the factories to add 0.5 yuan per bowl (50 g or 100 g) to the retail price.

But some factory owners argued that they increased the price due to the rising costs, including the prices of rice, coal and electricity.

The local government will hold a press conference today to announce the results of the investigation, Yang Zhigang, an official from Liuzhou's publicity department, yesterday told China Daily on the phone.

"The investigation is intended to reveal the true costs for the production of raw rice noodles," Yang said.