P.M. BRIEFING : China Plans 1st Grain Price Hike
BEIJING — For the first time in 41 years of Communist rule, China plans to raise state-controlled grain prices, Agriculture Ministry officials said today.
A spokesman for the ministry said prices will have to rise because grain subsidies are placing too heavy a burden on strained state finances.
“The ration price has been basically stable in China since the revolution, but we now plan to raise the price of this grain,†Zhang Shaoguang, senior spokesman for the ministry, said in an interview. “We have not decided how much or when we will raise the ration grain price.â€
For a people who can remember near-starvation after natural disasters in the early 1960s, grain is an emotive issue. “Grain is as important as heaven,†according to one ancient saying.
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