China's weekly farm produce prices ease expansion

BEIJING - Prices of farm produce in China have registered a flat month-end growth after continuous rises, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Tuesday.

From March 25 to 31, the average wholesale price of 30 types of vegetables was stable on a weekly basis. The wholesale price of pork went down 0.3 percent, and the price of eggs edged up 0.6 percent from the previous week.

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

A report by the Bank of Communications financial research center predicted that the CPI is expected to see a marked increase in March with increased prices of pork, a staple meat in the country, and oil.

The CPI is likely to rise by 2 percent to 2.4 percent year-on-year last month, an acceleration from the 1.5 percent growth recorded in February, according to the report.

The National Bureau of Statistics will release the official March CPI data on April 11.

Tuesday's data also showed that producer prices went down 0.2 percent last week, with prices of rubber and steel declining by 1.6 percent and 0.4 percent from a week earlier.