China's national vegetable basket price index reached 125.78 in January, 3.26 points higher from the previous month. This rise was largely driven by seasonal increases in vegetable prices, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
In January, the average wholesale price of 28 key monitored vegetables across the country was 5.32 yuan (about 0.73 U.S. dollars) per kilogram, a 5.3 percent rise from the previous month and a 2.7-percent increase year on year. Among these, five types of vegetables saw price declines month on month, while 23 experienced price hikes. Notably, cauliflower, green beans, bell peppers, lettuce, and eggplant saw price increases of over 10 percent.
"There was a seasonal rise in vegetable prices in January. For one thing, the volume of vegetables transported from the south to the north went up during the Spring Festival holiday, which translated into higher costs in temperature control and transportation. For another, the production cost of greenhouse-grown vegetables in the north is higher than that of open-field varieties. Additionally, consumer spending during the festival period has also contributed to the uptick in price," said Zhang Jing, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Information of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Zhang added that the total growing areas for vegetables nationwide is slightly higher than in the previous year, and the production and supply foundation for winter and spring vegetables is relatively solid. The seasonal price increase in January was relatively mild compared to previous years.
"Since the Spring Festival, a cold wave has lingered across the country, with temperatures in most regions lower than the average readings for this period. This will affect the growth and transportation of vegetables. The prices of some vegetable may rise further in the short term and in some areas," Zhang said.
Vegetable prices go up in Jan due to seasonal factors
The chairman and president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China expressed optimism about U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to China.
Trump landed in the Chinese capital on Wednesday evening for a three-day state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Guangzhou, Harley Seyedin, chairman and president of the chamber, highlighted the visit's critical importance to the chamber's members, which account for about 40 percent of China-U.S. business trade and investment.
"The American Chamber of Commerce in South China has over 2,300 members, which account for about 40 percent of all U.S.-China business trade and investment. Therefore, his trip is extremely important to us, and we're very excited about the fact that he's coming," said Seyedin.
"Certainty is extremely important in business and I do believe that his trip will bring about certainty on a number of issues, especially on investment and cooperation and sales. And I think we will do very well with the fact that he's here. The Greater Bay Area, which consists of Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities on the mainland, has a GDP of 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars. I think the fact that President Trump is here is going to signal that we can continue to expand our business, we can continue to cooperate with our Chinese partners and prosper and benefit from the opportunities that will be available," said Seyedin.
He noted that the visit was crucial to a majority of chamber members who now focus on the Chinese market rather than exports.
"I do believe that his arrival will signal better cooperation in many, many new areas, What this will resolve is the reduction of tariffs and I do expect that reduction in tariff levels that's going to be very important. Seventy-seven percent of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce based in South China are not in the export business anymore. They are primarily here importing from the United States components and parts and products, and manufacturing in China for the Chinese market. So the Chinese market has become very important to us. And therefore President Trump's visit, his cooperation with President Xi Jinping, his meetings are gonna be extremely beneficial in our ability to penetrate the Chinese market, even in a greater way than we have in the past," the chairman said.
He also pointed out opportunities for U.S. companies in China's green industrial transformation, citing collaboration in electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, healthcare, AI, and consumer products.
"China is developing new technologies from which we can benefit by cooperating with our Chinese partners - EVs, batteries as well as health care. China is now the leading innovator of new drugs. We know that we can work together with China on many clinical trials in development of new technology. We can work together in AI areas. We think that AI is not necessarily just defense, it is an area that's very important to business going forward. In addition to that, there are just about every consumer product that you can imagine that we provide here in China, and we're gonna continue to do that," he said.
Trump's China visit to boost investment, cooperation: business leader
