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Pork prices soar in big cities, inflationary pressure still heavy

By Shangguan Zhoudong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-04 08:59

Despite the Chinese government's measures to curb the bulgyconsumer price index(CPI) figure, the price of pork still keeps soaring in some large Chinese cities, which makes the inflationary pressures still heavy.

Statistics from the Beijing Xinfadi Market, the biggest agricultural products wholesale market, show that the wholesale price of pork reached a record of 17.5 yuan (US$2.3) per kilogram on July 2.

From June 26 to July 1, pork in the market was sold at less than 17 yuan per kilogram by wholesale, according to the market's statistics.

A principal of the market surnamed Wu disclosed that the pork price hike was due to transportation problems caused by rainfalls.

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But some wholesalers said that the root cause of the soaring price was due to a short supply of live pigs.

The price of pork in Guangzhou also saw a record high in July with itsretailprice hitting 11 yuan per kilogram on July 2.

According to Li Guibing, general manager of a live pig wholesale market in Guangzhou, the purchasing price of live pigs has soared to 14.4 yuan per kilogram yesterday from 12.4 yuan at the beginning of June this year.

In Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, the wholesale price of pork hit 16 yuan per kilogram on June 29, a roughly 10 percent increase from two weeks ago.

As for Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the ex-factory price of pork on July 2 grew 12 percent from the beginning of July. The price of live pigs reached 12.6 yuan per kilogram on July 2, up more than 10 percent from the beginning of June.

China's pork prices were 29.3 percent higher in Aprilyear on year. Prices continued to rise in May before edging down in the first 10 days of June.

China has seen its CPI exceed the benchmark line of 3 percent set by the central bank. In May, it hit a two-year high of 3.4 percent, after reaching 3 percent in April.