Steep prices chill China's markets
Posted: Friday, February 01, 2008 12:23 PM
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Beijing, China
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer
After hearing how the snow storms and ice blizzards have not just stranded millions of travelers, but also ravaged parts of China's farming heartland in the central and southern regions, it wasn't quite what we expected to see at the Dong Jiao market in eastern Beijing: Piles and piles of fresh healthy-looking fruit.
"Where did these come from?" I pointed to all the oranges for sale by a young woman wrapped up against the cold in a puffy parka.
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| Adrienne Mong/NBC News |
| Winter's bounty: mangoes from overseas, but strawberries from China. |
"Guangdong!"
"Guandgong province?" I squawked back. Guangdong, one of China's southern most provinces, has been hard hit by snowfall and freezing temperatures while regions just north of it have been paralyzed by the extreme weather, interrupting travel and transport. "I thought no fruit was getting through from the south?"
"It's because it's so hard for fruit to be delivered now that they're expensive!" She said and her colleagues chorused.
In addition to being the driver behind the country's manufacturing growth, Guangdong also produces fruit and vegetables that feed the rest of China. But the unusually frigid weather continues to threaten that supply line.
Vegetable prices jump 50 percent
A top agriculture official warned Thursday there may be future food shortages and higher inflation. "The impact of the snow disaster in southern China on winter crop production is extremely serious," Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Communist Party's leading financial team, told reporters. "The impact on fresh vegetables and on fruit in some places has been catastrophic."
In Beijing, vegetables have gone up an average 50 percent.
And at the Dong Jiao market, fruit vendors unanimously complained that prices were rising by the day.
I tried to haggle with a fruit vendor over strawberries. She wanted $1.70 for about 2 pounds. I asked where they were from and heard "Sichuan."
"But Sichuan hasn't been hit by any bad weather?" I protested. The province lies in western China and has been spared the brutal storms. But the vendor stuck fast to her price.
I took a look at the display of miniature tangerines beside her. These cherry-sized fruit feature largely around the Chinese New Year and are known popularly as "gold oranges." Their golden color signifies wealth and happiness. And they have the added bonus of actually being quite tasty.
"How much?" I asked. She wanted five renminbi per kilo. Five? Again, I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Two days ago they were 3.3 renminbi," she said, lifting three fingers to underline her point. "In two days, they'll go up another two kuai (or renminbi)."
Sold. I went home with two boxes.
