From January to February, the consumer prices in Zhejiang rose by 5.2% over the same period of the previous year. Food prices rose by 11%, the highest rate, and the prices of housing, health care and personal necessities increased by 7.4% and 2.7%, respectively. In the food category, the growth in rice prices had slowed down, while the pork prices tended to increase rapidly, contrary to the usual post-Spring Festival falling trend. In February, the pork retail prices in Zhejiang went up by 14.53% on average.
With the further manifestation of the impact of macrocontrol policies and the abating carryover effects, the second half year is expected to see a further drop in consumer prices, although there is still a long way to go to meet the annual target of controlling the CPI growth rate at around 4%, said Chen Min er.