Prices of edible farm produce in China's 36 large and medium-sized cities remained largely unchanged in the week that ended Oct 17 from the previous week, ending sixteen consecutive weeks of increases.

Prices of 18 types of vegetables fell by 1.9 percent, and that for eggs and eight kinds of seafood both dropped by 0.1 percent, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday in an online statement.

Prices of pork, mutton and beef all posted a 0.2-percent increase from last week, and that of rice and flour rose 0.4 and 0.2 percent, respectively, according to the ministry.

Food prices have a one-third weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), a major measure of inflation.

In August, China's CPI recorded a year-on-year 3.5 percent rise, the fastest pace in nearly two years, as the prices of agricultural products witnessed a continuous rise due to bad weather and increasing demand.

The September figure is scheduled to be released on Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2010)