‘Imaginative’ netizens told to calm down
Print Edition
THE Chinese government has asked citizens to stock up daily necessities after recent COVID-19 outbreaks and unusually heavy rains led to a spike in vegetable prices and fueled fears of shortages.
The directive by the Commerce Ministry late on Monday led to some concerns on social media.
In response, the Economic Daily told netizens not to have “too much of an overactive imagination,” and that the directive was to make sure that citizens were not caught off guard in case of a lockdown in their area.
In the long run, it was meant to ensure residents improve their emergency management awareness, and take necessary steps to stock up on family necessities, the newspaper said.
The ministry’s statement urged local authorities to ensure supplies and maintain stable prices, and warn people early in case of shortages.
The central government typically makes extra effort to boost the supply of fresh vegetables and pork in the run-up to China’s most important holiday, the Lunar New Year, which falls in February next year.
But this year those efforts have become more urgent after extreme weather in early October destroyed crops in Shandong, the country’s biggest vegetable growing region, and as outbreaks of COVID-19 cases from the northwest to the northeast of the country threaten to disrupt food supplies.
Last week, the prices of cucumbers, spinach and broccoli had more than doubled from early October. Spinach was more expensive than some cuts of pork at 16.67 yuan (US$2.60) per kilogram, according to a vegetable price index in Shouguang, a key trading hub in Shandong.
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