国内英语新闻:Adverse weather may disrupt China's control on prices

Having felt the pinch on their dining table from rising prices, the Chinese people have mounting fears that the current poor weather will put further pressure on food prices, which have been rising sharply for months.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose to a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in November. The growth was mainly driven by an 11.7 percent surge in food prices, which accounts for one-third of the basket of goods used to calculate China's CPI. The December CPI rate dropped to 4.6 percent, with food prices rising 9.6 percent, government data showed.

The continuous damaging weather has alarmed the government and experts on prices, but they argued it is still early to foresee a drop in grain output.

Yang Biantong said Henan experienced widespread rainfall before wheat was planted, which ensured sufficiency of accumulated moisture in deeper soil layers. Further, crops need little water now as they are in a dormant stage of growth, he said.

The drought will be eased if the plants are again irrigated after temperatures go up in the spring season, he added.

Yao Jingyuan, chief economist at the National Bureau of Statistics, said it still needs more time to assess the current weather's impact on prices. China's grain output achieved the seventh consecutive year of growth last year which, along with adequate stockpiles, laid a crucial foundation for price stability, he said.

Guo Tiancai, a wheat expert at the Ministry of Agriculture, also agreed that earlier irrigation is providing enough moisture for now. But he warned of possibilities of big losses to the final yield if no measures are put into place during the period when the temperature warms up in spring and wheat grows faster.

He urged authorities and farmers to ensure crops are watered at the appropriate time, adding that the approaching four months would be crucial for wheat.

Over the weekend, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged, during his tour in the drought-hit Henan, that the government will build more water-saving projects. He also urged local governments to overhaul water resource facilities and reduce the impact of drought on agricultural production by putting in place various technologies.