China's farm produce prices continue to fall

BEIJING - China's farm produce prices continued to head downwards in the week ending June 24 due to sharp drops in vegetable prices, according to the Ministry of Commerce Tuesday.

The price index for farm produce edged down 0.9 percent in the past week, compared with a 0.6 percent fall the previous week. The index for production materials edged down 0.4 percent.

The average wholesale price of 30 kinds of vegetables fell 2.9 percent from a week earlier.

The wholesale price of pork, the country's staple meat, rose 0.1 percent from a week earlier. The price of beef gained 0.3 percent and that of beef remained flat.

The wholesale price of eggs fell 0.2 percent.

Food accounts for about one-third of China's consumer price index.

China's consumer price index rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in May. Food prices edged up by 0.1 percent, resulting in a growth of 0.01 percentage points in the price index.