Beijing, Oct 2 (IANS) Vegetable producers should sell their produce directly to urban consumers to lower retail prices, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said.
Wen made a tour early Saturday morning to a vegetable market in northern Beijing that opens on weekends. After talking to farmers there, Wen said the best way to lower vegetable prices is to link producers and consumers.
Farmers should sell their produce directly to supermarkets, schools and communities, so that they can earn more while consumers spend less, China Daily quoted Wen as saying.
‘We need to cut intermediaries and lower the rising cost of vegetables, which both producers and consumers will be happy with,’ he said.
Wen asked the commerce ministry and the Beijing government to adopt policies to support direct vegetables sales.
China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 6.2 percent year-on-year in August, far above the government’s four-percent target for the year.
