China’s economy is showing signs of abnormality, with vegetable prices recently falling amid deflation concerns. At this rate, the economy, which is only showing signs of recovery, is expected to return to a recession as if it had done so. In this case, it can be said that it is almost certain that the national public sentiment will come as the life of farmers becomes particularly difficult.
According to foreign media reports on the 30th, it can be said that China has been significantly affected by “zero COVID-19” for nearly three years. It is true that it did not seem easy to achieve the growth target of around 5% in the first half of this year. Furthermore, the atmosphere was even more hopeless because the conflict with the United States, which was fatal to the economy, was far from being resolved.
However, in the second half of the year, thanks to stimulus measures that urgently injected 1 trillion yuan, fortunately, it was able to escape the worst situation. Now, it is expected that it will be possible to achieve the growth goal. Even next year, growth is expected to be around 5%.
Of course, there are no obstacles at all. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which should be an indicator of the future economy, can be cited as a representative example. I wondered if it was getting a little better, but in October, it fell 0.2% compared to the same period last year, returning to a downward trend for the first time in three months. On top of that, producer prices also fell for the 13th consecutive month. Concerns over deflation are inevitably growing. In the meantime, vegetable prices are also plunging nationwide, making the situation even more grim.
The extent can be seen from the fact that 500 grams of green onion and cabbage are only two and three jiao. Of course, it should be said that the prices shipped from all over the country are poor. There is a reason why farmers give up harvesting and plow their fields is a national trend.
Given the current atmosphere, it is safe to say that vegetable prices are unlikely to rebound for a considerable period of time. For farmers, it can be said that blood tears are necessary. Add to this the fact that the collapse in vegetable prices will have a significant impact on the continuation of deflation, and the situation will become more difficult in the future. It is natural that the Chinese economic authorities, who believe that the current situation is unusual, are struggling to come up with solutions.
