Economy

China's farm produce prices slightly down

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-07 21:35

BEIJING- In the week ending April 3, farm produce prices in China edged down slightly compared to the previous week, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a report released on Thursday.

Related readings: China's March CPI rise may exceed 5%

The wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables dropped 2.6 percent on average during the week, with prices of bitter melon taking the greatest slide at 8.6 percent. The price of green peppers fell 8.3 percent.

Prices of mutton and beef were down 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, the report showed.

The prices of eggs and eight kinds of sea products dipped. Egg prices were down by 0.6 percent. Sea products prices fell 0.3 percent.

However, the price of rice rose 0.2 percent, while that for flour remained unchanged.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, jumped 4.9 percent in February year on year, exceeding the government's full-year target of 4 percent.

Battling inflation has become a priority for the Chinese government this year as it is widely expected the March CPI growth, scheduled to be released next week, may hit a new high.

The country has also adopted a series of measures, including hiking interest rates twice and raising the reserve requirement ratio of banks three times this year.