THE consumer price index (CPI) in Shenzhen, a major gauge of inflation, rose to a new record of 5.1 percent in November, the Shenzhen Urban Investigation Team of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.
The growth rate picked up from 4.8 percent in October when a 12.6-percent surge in food prices drove the CPI higher. Food prices comprise one-third of the figures used in calculating the CPI.
The team monitored commodities in eight categories. Eggs rose by 21 percent; vegetables, 21 percent; aquatic products, 14.6 percent; edible oil, 13.6 percent; and cereal, 13.4 percent.
The report said it would be an uphill battle to keep the CPI increase within 3 percent this year.
Statistics showed the prices of traditional Chinese medicine had increased by 8.9 percent in November, compared with the same period last year, while Western medicine prices increased by 13.8 percent on average.
In contrast, prices of garments and shoes, transport and telecommunications had dropped slightly.
(Han Ximin)
Noodle supplier tangles with retail chain
THE Ting Hisin International Group had cut supplies of Master Kong brand instant noodles to Carrefour outlets in China after the French retailer refused to raise the price by 10 percent as requested by the supplier, according to a Shenzhen Economic Daily report.
Ting Hisin decided to raise the price of its noodles from 2 yuan to 2.2 yuan per packet from Nov. 1. A Carrefour outlet in Hebei Province was the first to refuse to increase the price and the refusal then spread to all Carrefour outlets in China, the report said.
Carrefour Shenzhen public relations manager Qiu Jianping confirmed there were no Master Kong instant noodles on Carrefour shelves.
Carrefour had since proposed to discontinue an annual contract with Ting Hisin and negotiations between the two parties were in stalemate, the report said.
Ting Hisin confirmed supplies had been cut and negotiations discontinued Dec. 8, saying if Carrefour s terms were accepted, it would face a situation where prices [for Master Kong noodles] would differ in retail markets.
The eight Carrefour outlets in Shenzhen had been replaced Master Kong instant noodles with other brands.
At the Xinzhou outlet, a saleswoman who identified herself as Wang said there had been no supplies of Master Kong noodles for a few days and she was not sure when they would resume.
Master Kong instant noodles are available at other retail supermarkets such as Rainbow and CRC Vanguard where the price had risen by 10 percent. (Han Ximin)
