Farm produce prices post big declines

Farm produce prices fell for a sixth consecutive week last week, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

The average price of 30 kinds of vegetables fell 6.9 percent last week, compared to a drop of 5.7 percent one week earlier, according to the ministry website.

White gourd, cauliflower and beans sunk 22.7 percent, 13.6 percent and 12.5 percent week on week in a sample of 36 cities. The average price of six kinds of fruit dropped 1.4 percent.

Grain remained steady. Meat oscillated slightly, with pork rising 0.6 percent while mutton fell 0.7 percent.

Edible oil prices were slightly up. Rapeseed oil and soybean oil edged up 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Food prices account for one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI).

This year's consumer price growth is set at around 3 percent, the same as that in 2015. China's CPI rose 2.3 percent in April, flat from the previous two months. Endi