The central government yesterday instructed 36 major cities to
each maintain a minimum 10-day reserve of food and cooking oil
supplies, as part of its measures to ensure market stability during
the current period of rising food prices.
A notice jointly issued by five ministries led by the country's
top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform
Commission, said the move was necessary to ensure a "ready"
emergency production and distribution system.
The cities include Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Local governments were also asked to designate companies to
ensure the sound production and distribution of food and cooking
oil.
"Local governments should also inspect those companies regularly
to ensure the quantity and quality of their reserves," the notice
said.
Warning of major increases in the prices of corn, wheat and
cooking oil, yesterday's notice came with an announcement from the
National Bureau of Statistics that the country's key inflation
indicator, the consumer price index (CPI), surged to an 11-year
high of 6.9 percent last month, of which 5.4 percentage points were
a result of food price hikes.
Grain prices last month rose 6.6 percent over the same period
last year, while cooking oil prices increased 35 percent.
Pork prices, which have been blamed for the recent increase in
the CPI, soared by 56 percent.
Nine straight months of consumer price hikes, fueled by the
rising cost of food, have taken their toll on the public.
Beijing resident Gao Ning said that since the summer, her
family's monthly food bill had risen by 200 yuan ($27).
"With the major festivals drawing near, I hope there will be
enough food on the market. Otherwise, the New Year holiday will be
the most expensive yet for my family," she said.
In an effort to minimize the impact of rising food prices, the
ministries also told local governments to closely monitor the needs
of the poor and students.
People in disaster areas and those relocated because of major
reservoir projects should also be given special consideration, they
said.
In addition to yesterday's notice, the central government
earlier launched a crackdown on the possible hoarding of food by
suppliers during the current period of soaring prices.
(China Daily December 12, 2007)
