Chinese farm produce prices drop

BEIJING - China's farm produce prices dropped for the week ending April 22 from the previous week, according to a report released Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

The average wholesale price of 18 major kinds of vegetables fell 2.6 percent last week, marking the fifth straight week of declines. Vegetable prices had fallen a total of 15.7 percent during the past five weeks, the report said.

The retail price of eggs dropped 0.6 percent last week to below 9 yuan per kg as market supplies increased, the report said.

Meat prices also saw declines, with the price of pork down 0.2 percent from the previous week and down 13.9 percent compared to the end of January. Prices of mutton and beef were down 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, from the previous week. The price of chicken remained unchanged.

The price of flour remained unchanged from the previous week, while that of rice rose 0.2 percent, according to the report.

Eight kinds of sea products also saw an average price gain of 0.1 percent, according to the report.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rebounded to 3.6 percent year on year in March, up from 3.2 percent registered in February, which was the lowest pace in 20 months.

Despite the rebound, analysts said the overall downward trend of inflation will not be changed for the whole year. The government has aimed to contain CPI growth to around 4 percent for the whole year.