May 7, 2008

China's food prices hike by 21 percent in Q1 on escalating grain costs

China's food prices increased by 21 percent in the first quarter of 2008, driving up the overall prices by 6.8 percentage points, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Food produce price in China went up by 11.4 percent on-year, while the CPI rose by 8 percent in the period, with the growth rate increasing by 5.3 percentage points, the bureau data indicate.

Zhang Yongjun, economic analyst of the State Information Center, said that the increase in domestic grain prices was mainly the result of the hiking international grain prices.