Chinese grain and oil supplies are sufficient and the price of
most commodities are experiencing a slight decline as the
government exerts efforts to maintain price stability after the
worst winter in decades.
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) figures
revealed the prices of pork, egg and vegetables fell, while grain
and oil prices remained stable in the disaster-hit provinces of
Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Henan on Wednesday.
The prices of green peppers were down 16.7 percent and 6.7
percent, respectively, in Chongqing Municipality and Anhui Province
on Wednesday compared with the previous day. Pork fell by as much
as 6.7 percent in some weather-stricken areas, according to the
statistics.
"The snow may have little impact on the overall market. Prices
of vegetables and other farming commodities certainly will continue
to come down as the weather warms," said Huang Hai, Ministry of
Commerce assistant minister.
To make sure of sufficient grain supply and to maintain a stable
grain price, the government has responded with a variety of
measures. These included freezing prices on a slew of goods, to
boosting farm subsidies and curbing the industrial use of corn.
Separately, the government is giving departments related to food
supply a green light in a bid to revive the production of crops,
livestock and poultry. Some regions have also launched emergency
mechanisms to solve the problem of food shortage.
Transport departments have made a full effort to cooperate with
other departments in rushing food to snow-hit regions to ensure
supply and keep prices stable.
The central government allotted tons of state-reserved meat to
the disaster-hit provinces of Guizhou, Anhui and Hubei during the
recent Spring Festival, and delivered as much as 170,000 tons of
vegetables to 14 provinces.
From January 25 to February 11, railways shipped 113,000 cars of
food in grain, vegetables and fruits to disaster-hit regions.
To ensure corn supply in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, NDRC and
the State Administration of Grain (SAG), along with the Finance
Ministry and China Grain Reserve Corporation, jointly allotted
12,600 tons of corn from the country's grain abundant southeast
earlier this month.
Although prices of some commodities in a handful of remote areas
were slightly higher due to bad transport conditions, market prices
would not be affected on the whole, Huang explained.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)
