Planet Retail 21 November 2007

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture yesterday announced that it would issue monthly reports on agricultural produce prices to increase "market transparency and offer guiding information for farmers. The fluctuations of agricultural products are closely related to the overall performance of the national economy," Gao Hongbin, vice minister of agriculture, told reporters. "They also affect the interests of both producers and consumers." Rising farm product prices have done little to benefit farmers, the minister said, with most of the gains going to those who process, deliver, sell and consume the products. He said domestic prices were increasingly influenced by global markets, whose influence could be transmitted to China through imports and futures exchanges.

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