Economy

NDRC says vegetable prices to decline further

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-02 21:58

BEIJING - China's vegetable prices will fall further with increasing supplies as temperatures continue to climb, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, said Wednesday.

Average retail prices for 15 kinds of vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants, dropped by 10.15 percent in May from April, the NDRC said.

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Prices for some vegetables fell drastically when the peak supply season came by the end of May, it said.

NDRC monitoring showed prices of cucumbers on May 26 averaged 4.04 yuan (59 US cents) per kg, 22 percent down from a month earlier while green rape dropped 20.1 percent in price month on month to 7.82 yuan per kg.

In China, food prices account for a third of the weighting in the consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of the country's inflation.

China's CPI picked up in April, rising 2.8 percent year-on-year because of lower comparison base last year and rising food prices because of adverse weather.

The government set a target to keep the full-year growth in the CPI at about 3 percent this year.