Cheaper meat will make Wang happy
Source: Xinhua |
January 3, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ANCIENT Chinese historians said that for ordinary people, all that mattered was food. Today, for Wang Xueqin in east China's Hefei City, it's meat that matters most.
The retired woman's New Year wish is that the government will continue to rein in rising prices, otherwise, she says: "I can no longer afford to eat meat. It's no joke!"
Vegetable prices are not too bad, but meat prices had been rising too fast, the 77-year-old said. Pork prices have risen to 29 yuan per kilogram from 22 yuan a year ago in Hefei, capital of Anhui, while mutton is now 50 yuan, compared to 32 yuan a year ago, Wang said.
From her monthly pension of 1,500 yuan (US$230) there is only just enough for food after she pays her bills and other costs.
According to a recent central bank survey covering 50 cities, nearly 69 percent of respondents considered consumer prices to be unacceptably high. The People's Bank of China survey covered 20,000 people.
"In the new year, I hope there will be no more rocketing prices of daily necessities, especially those of meat," Wang said.
She is expecting a pension rise this year. "We'll surely have better days if the pension is raised. Only when the rise of wages and pensions outpaces that of consumer prices can we ordinary people have good days," she said.
Shelter has also been a major concern of Chinese people since ancient times and is near the top of the list today with many complaints about the high cost of housing.
The government imposed a raft of measures aimed at curbing housing prices since April 2010, including higher down payments, home ownership limits, less access to loans and construction of low-income housing.
Sun Yuxue has been dreaming of a home for a long time. She went to a real estate agency in Hefei with her boyfriend at the weekend, but the pharmacy saleswoman still hesitated as she was hoping government policies would result in a further decline in prices this year.
Sun kept an eye on the property market last year, and saw prices in Hefei dropping, but she is waiting for them to go lower.
"When the price drops below 6,000 yuan per square meter, I'll no longer hesitate. That's my New Year's wish," she said.
The retired woman's New Year wish is that the government will continue to rein in rising prices, otherwise, she says: "I can no longer afford to eat meat. It's no joke!"
Vegetable prices are not too bad, but meat prices had been rising too fast, the 77-year-old said. Pork prices have risen to 29 yuan per kilogram from 22 yuan a year ago in Hefei, capital of Anhui, while mutton is now 50 yuan, compared to 32 yuan a year ago, Wang said.
From her monthly pension of 1,500 yuan (US$230) there is only just enough for food after she pays her bills and other costs.
According to a recent central bank survey covering 50 cities, nearly 69 percent of respondents considered consumer prices to be unacceptably high. The People's Bank of China survey covered 20,000 people.
"In the new year, I hope there will be no more rocketing prices of daily necessities, especially those of meat," Wang said.
She is expecting a pension rise this year. "We'll surely have better days if the pension is raised. Only when the rise of wages and pensions outpaces that of consumer prices can we ordinary people have good days," she said.
Shelter has also been a major concern of Chinese people since ancient times and is near the top of the list today with many complaints about the high cost of housing.
The government imposed a raft of measures aimed at curbing housing prices since April 2010, including higher down payments, home ownership limits, less access to loans and construction of low-income housing.
Sun Yuxue has been dreaming of a home for a long time. She went to a real estate agency in Hefei with her boyfriend at the weekend, but the pharmacy saleswoman still hesitated as she was hoping government policies would result in a further decline in prices this year.
Sun kept an eye on the property market last year, and saw prices in Hefei dropping, but she is waiting for them to go lower.
"When the price drops below 6,000 yuan per square meter, I'll no longer hesitate. That's my New Year's wish," she said.
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