China's farm produce prices slightly recover last week

BEIJING - China's farm produce prices slightly recovered in the week ending July 15, reversing the downward trend for five consecutive weeks, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

The price index for farm produce edged up 0.8 percent in the past week, while the index for production materials rose 0.2 percent.

The average wholesale price of 30 kinds of vegetable went up 2.5 percent, compared with a 0.3-percent gain the week earlier.

The wholesale price of pork, the country's staple meat, rose 3 percent from the previous week. The price of beef and lamb both went up 0.3 percent. The wholesale price of eggs fell 0.2 percent.

Food accounts for about one-third of China's consumer price index.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.9 percent year on year in June, compared with 1.8 percent for May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.