China: Floods cause inflation in food prices

Beijing, Jun 20: The food prices in China are rising after the floods that hit eastern China left more than 5 million people displaced and many affected, said a state media report on Jun 19.

Areas like Zhejiang and Hubei are under water after the heavy downpour have left more than 1 million acres of farmland flooded, said official Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua, in a report also said that about 1,000 people were forced to leave their business and disturbed 5.7 million people's lives. About 7,000 homes were either damaged or collapsed and the financial damage that happened because of the rains was about $ 930 million.

Houses were buried leaving two people dead in Zhejiang's Changshan county, while two were reported missing and two more dead by the floods in Hunei, said Xinhua.

The floods in Southern and Eastern China have left more than 170 people missing or dead.

The railways and roads are blocked. According to China's weather bureau, the weather is expected to be cleared by Monday, Jun 20 (today).

According to farmers, the floods in China were the worst in 20 years. Vegetable output was reduced by 20 percent which caused shortages of grains and fruits.

"When the flooding first started, the breach was not that huge. We could have easily fixed it," said a villager.

"But the government did not do anything. None of the local officials tried to salvage the situation. That's why we have such huge economic losses and so many people being affected by the flooding," he said.

According to reports, prices of green vegetables rose by 40 percent which added to an inflation of 5.5 percent.

The inflation in food prices were also reported in eastern provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui, said Xinhua.

OneIndia News