Pork Price Growth Down; Rise in Fish, Poultry and Beef Rates

High pork prices have become a big concern for the nation as the consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, shot up to a three-year high of 6.4 per cent last month, driven by surging food prices.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed pork prices in June surged 57.1 per cent year-on-year.

Prices of beef and chicken rose slightly, by 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Prices of flour and rice both rose 0.4 per cent; egg prices also rose 0.4 per cent. Meanwhile, prices of eight types of aquatic products rose 1 per cent.

Premier Wen Jiabao said last week that stabilizing prices remains the top priority for China's macro-regulatory policies.

To contain stubbornly high inflation, the central bank has so far raised the benchmark interest rates three times this year. It also hiked the reserve requirement ratio six times, ordering banks to keep a record high of 21.5 per cent of their deposits in reserve to rein in excess lending.