Laying the meat of choice on the table

By Fu Jing | China Daily | Updated: 2007-07-19 07:14

Farmers harvest wheat crops in Linyao County, Gansu Province. A severe drought hit the province earlier this year, leaving 2.88 million people in seeking government help for food. Cao Zhizheng

Consumers today seem to have a lot of things to worry about. The consumer price index (CPI) has risen above normal, and the property market hasn't cooled down despite several government measures. But perhaps the greatest worry is the soaring price of pork.

Higher pork price was "one of the main reasons" for the increase in CPI in the January-June period. An average Chinese eats more pork than his counterpart in any other country, except perhaps Germany. Higher pork and other staple prices contributed 34 percent to the rise of CPI, a key indicator of inflation. Generally, up to a 3 percent rise in CPI does not indicate inflation. But once it crosses that figure, alarm bells start ringing. And it is expected to cross 4 percent in June after hitting 3.4 percent in May, according to a China Securities Journal report. The National Bureau of Statistics is likely to announce the official figures today.

So is there hope for the price of pork to come down? Yes, says Huang Jikun, director of Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, affiliated to Chinese Academy of Sciences.