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Domestic grain prices stay stable
(Xinhua/China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-12 09:42
Domestic grain prices stay stable

Customers select grain at a supermarket in Fuyang, Anhui province, in this file photo. The central government has been taking steps to rein in the soaring cost of grain amid a hike in international prices.[China Daily]

Domestic grain prices have remained stable amid hikes in international prices, official figures have showed.

Wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged more than 140 percent in March, while rice prices jumped more than 80 percent.

Average grain retail prices on the Chinese domestic market, by contrast, registered slight growth, from 4.14 yuan (59 cents) per kilogram from the beginning of January to 4.19 yuan by the end of March, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

The government's efforts to ensure food supply in the country, including restrictions on grain-consuming bio-ethanol projects, was behind the stable prices, analysts said.

The central government vowed this year to spend more than 562 billion yuan ($80.4 billion) to support farms and the rural sector, 130.7 billion yuan more than last year.


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