China's food prices continue to dip

BEIJING — The average price of food in 50 Chinese cities continued to drop between April 11 and April 20, official data showed Monday.

Prices of pork, chicken and egg declined from the last sampled period of April 1 to April 10, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Beans led the fall in vegetable prices by losing 6.8 percent, while cucumber and tomato prices dipped by 3.9 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

The 10-day snapshot could reflect the trend in consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, as food prices account for nearly one-third of the prices used in calculating the index.

China's consumer inflation grew 0.9 percent year-on-year in March, as stable prices reinforced the view that the world's second-largest economy is firming up, according to the NBS.

The NBS attributed the lower CPI reading to sharply lowering food prices, which fell 1.9 percent in March. Vegetable prices dropped the most, by 7.9 percent from February.