Brutal weather turns up the heat on mainland China inflation

Mainland authorities vowed yesterday to fight rising inflation as massive levels of snow and freezing rain threatened the country’s coal supplies, transportation networks and food production.

Power shortages have affected 17 mainland provinces, half the country, National Development and Reform Commission spokesman Zhu Hongren said yesterday. “The energy supply shortage will continue in some regions for some time to come,” Zhu said.



The Ministry of Civil Affairs, which handles disaster relief, estimated direct economic losses so far from the cold weather at 18.2 billion yuan (HK$19.71 billion). Residents in central and southwest China are also complaining of shortages of fresh food and rocketing prices for rice, vegetables and eggs.

Snow-related crop losses in central China, the country’s largest rapeseed grower, may hamper state measures to boost output and trigger lower prices.

The Standard