By Song Hongmei (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-16 17:21

A recent survey of 2,538 people in 29 Chinese provinces suggests that the rise in food prices has had a negative impact on people, although some report higher income from wages and financial investments.

The survey, jointly conducted by the China Youth Daily and Qtick.com, asked about food price concerns, and discovered that 90.9 percent of respondents agreed they had been affected by the rising prices. Seventy-eight percent claimed that the rise has impacted their consumption interests negatively.

The constant rise of food prices have pushed up the consumer price index (CPI). The CPI in May rose 3.4 percent, the highest monthly increase in more than two years. May was also the third consecutive month this year to have a CPI of over 3 percent, the warning line set by the central bank.

Ordinary consumers may not be concerned with the CPI index and the warning line, but they felt the pinch from the rising food prices in local markets, as discovered by the survey.

Pork wholesale prices polled by the Ministry of Commerce in 36 large and medium-sized cities averaged at 18.57 yuan (US$2.45) per kilogram on July 11, up nearly 30 percent from the 14.25 yuan on May 11. The average retail prices for lean pork have exceeded 22 yuan per kilogram.

In Beijing, the price of eggs climbed as high as 9 yuan per kilogram last week, 25 percent higher than that of just a few months ago. Jinlongyu soybean oil costs 49.9 yuan per five liters, an increase of eight percent from a few months ago.

Due to the rising prices of soybean and wheat, the price of sauce in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, rose about 20 percent to 4.8 yuan per kilogram.

A shop of steamed stuffed buns closed down in a district of Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, due to the rising cost of meat.

Income levels on the rise as well

Meanwhile statistics show that Chinese people earn more from their work and the financial investments, leading to the question of whether rising wages can offset the rising cost of living.

Excluding inflationary factors, the wages of employees in China have seen an averaged annual growth of 12 percent in the past four years, the fastest growth since the country's reform and opening up in the late 1970s, according to figures from the China Association for Labor Studies.

Individual investors have obtained an average return of 244.6 percent from the bullish stock market in the past 17 months from January 2006 to this May, according to Shenyin and Wanguo Securities.

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