CN China HK Hong Kong vegetables market

China’s food prices rose 7.5 per cent in March, largely as a result of high vegetable pricing because of poor weather.

The high pricing, which hit vegetables like green or spring onions particularly hard, pushed China’s consumer price index (CPI) up to 3.6 per cent for the month.

“CPI was mainly pushed up by food prices, which resulted from an undersupply of vegetables due to relatively cold weather in March,” Li Huiyong of Shanghai analyst Shenyin Wanguo Securities told the AFP.

The cold snap upset a general downward trend in China’s CPI, which is expected to bottom out around July this year.

Rising fuel costs also contributed to the growth in produce prices during March.