Recent spike in vegetable prices ebbing

Favorable weather since mid-October shores up domestic supply of leafy greens

The recent increase in the price of vegetables in China has reached its peak, with prices of leafy greens in particular seeing an obvious decline in many areas of the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Thursday.

Tang Ke, director of the ministry's market and economic information department, said vegetable production in North China has generally returned to normal levels thanks to good weather since mid-October.

"The falling prices of spinach and lettuce in some areas reflect the improving supply and demand situation," Tang said, adding that more and more vegetables are going to the market.

Since late September, rising vegetable prices in China have raised concerns among consumers, and some leafy greens were described as more expensive than pork.

The average wholesale price of 28 kinds of vegetables in October monitored by the ministry was 5.25 yuan (82 cents) per kilogram, an increase of 16.7 percent from September and a year-on-year increase of 11.7 percent.

The decreasing market volume due to disastrous weather, higher production and transportation costs, and insufficient power supply are among the main reasons for the surge in prices.

"The northern region has suffered unpredictable, even unprecedented, autumn floods since September, resulting in damage to more than 130,000 hectares of vegetables," Tang said.

He added that the recent sporadic COVID-19 local outbreaks also posed challenges, from production to retail.

The current vegetable production and the supply during the Spring Festival holiday will be at a healthy level because only the production of some leafy vegetables has been affected.

It's estimated that in three months, the amount of vegetables will be enough to adequately supply every person in China with 1.5 kilograms per day.

"Vegetables were expensive last week, with broccoli priced at 20 yuan per kilogram. I found it dropped a little bit today; now, it's only 12 yuan. That's great," a resident in Beijing's Chaoyang district said on Wednesday.

Officials at the ministry said the supply of food being sold in the supermarket was sufficient even when the epidemic was at its highest point last year.

"Our grain production is abundant, and stocks are sufficient. We can buy whatever we want, whenever we want in the supermarket," said Liu Lihua, deputy director of the ministry's plantation management department.

Qin Yuyun, an official with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, said the domestic food market supply is completely ensured. The current grain inventory in China is at a relatively high level, and the two major staples－wheat and rice－account for more than 70 percent of the total inventory, he said.

"Taking wheat as an example, the stocks continue to increase, and can meet the consumption demand for one and a half years amid the successive bumper harvests," Qin said.

Given the strong capacity of processing grain and oil, "the daily processed rice and noodles will be enough for all Chinese people to eat for two days", Qin said.

Moreover, China has more than 5,500 enterprises for grain processing to deal with emergencies, he said.

"Thirty-six large and medium-sized cities can ensure more than 20 days of grain and edible oil supply from their inventories," he added.