China's meat, produce prices continue to retreat

BEIJING — Prices of meat and vegetables continued to drop in major Chinese cities last week, official data showed Tuesday.

The average prices of 30 different vegetables dropped 1.7 percent last week, with the prices of garlic, onions and beans down 13.8 percent, 7.4 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online statement.

Egg prices fell one percent last week. The price of pork dropped 1.6 percent and lamb prices remained stable, according to the statement.

Food prices account for one-third of the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI).

China's inflation held steady in April, reinforcing views about stabilization in the economy and giving policymakers more leeway to tighten regulations.

The CPI rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in April, against 0.9 in March, as higher prices for non-food commodities outweighed an ongoing decline in food prices, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed last month.

Growth remains below the government's annual target of around 3 percent set for 2017.

The official CPI for May is due to be released by the NBS on June 9.