CPI随下降 物价仍高企

The February CPI of 3.2 percent is the first time that the country's monthly inflation rate has fallen below 4 percent since October 2010.

Liu Yuanchun, Assistant Dean of the Institute of Economics at Renmin University, elaborates.

"The shopping spree during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday boosted retail prices in January. But ever since, the prices of upstream products have fallen."

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, rose 6.2 percent in February from a year earlier. This was a sharp decrease from January's 10.5 percent rise when China's Lunar New Year holiday boosted food prices.

What do citizens think about the CPI seeing its lowest pace in 20 months?

"Vegetables are more expensive than meat."

"The price of garlic sprout is 12 yuan per kilogram. It's too expensive."

"The price of pork has dropped."

Many citizens are confused as to why vegetable prices have remained almost unchanged although the CPI's growth speed has slowed. Expert Liu Yuanchun explains there are fundamental differences between the CPI and actual commodity prices.

"Commodity price is an absolute number, but the CPI is an index. For example, if the CPI changes from 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent, it means that consumer prices are still rising but at a slower pace. They are totally two different concepts."

Figures from the Xinfadi Vegetable Wholesale Market in Beijing also indicate that the prices of pork and eggs decreased after the Spring Festival, but that vegetable prices remained the same and are likely to rise.

Experts say the continual cold weather in the north and rain in the south have damaged vegetable crops.

Last week, the average wholesale price of 18 staple vegetables rose 2.6 percent week-on-week, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The price of Chinese cabbage rose 15 percent last week from a week earlier, while the price of white gourd was up 11 percent.

The average wholesale price of eight staple aquatic products gained 1 percent, while the price of hairtail went up 2 percent.

Easing inflation in February reflected the impact of measures the government adopted last year, such as increasing the supply of products and better regulating the logistics sector. Nevertheless, some experts caution that even though macroeconomic policies have gradually taken effect, upward price pressures will persist.

For CRI, I'm zhang Wan.