China's agricultural product wholesale prices edge down

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The wholesale prices of China's agricultural products edged down Thursday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The latest China agricultural product wholesale price index came in at 127.81, down 0.16 points from the previous working day.

By 2 p.m. Thursday, the average wholesale price of pork, a staple meat in China, climbed 0.1 percent to 37.6 yuan (about 5.8 U.S. dollars) per kg, and that of eggs increased 0.9 percent to 8.18 yuan per kg.

The average wholesale price of 28 key types of vegetables tracked by the government declined 0.6 percent from the previous working day, while that of six key types of fruits shed 0.2 percent.

The wholesale price index is compiled on the basis of data collected from around 200 agricultural wholesale markets and is updated daily based on the weighted average of price indices for goods including vegetables, fruits, aquatic products, livestock products, cereals and edible vegetable oil.