China's agricultural product wholesale prices edge down

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

From May 7 to May 14, the China agricultural product wholesale price index came in at 118.18, down 0.87 points week on week.

On a weekly basis, the average wholesale price of pork, a staple meat in China, dropped 5.2 percent to 28.86 yuan (about 4.5 U.S. dollars) per kg, and that of mutton fell 0.3 percent to 76.73 yuan per kg.

The average wholesale prices of 19 key types of vegetables tracked by the government rose 0.8 percent from the previous week.

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