Cctv newsOn July 14th, the National Development and Reform Commission held a media briefing on the economic situation in the first half of the year. Wan Jinsong, director of the price department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the meeting that since the beginning of this year, international energy and food prices have risen sharply, and inflation in major economies such as the United States and Europe has remained high. In recent months, the consumer price index (CPI) has risen by more than 8%, a record high in the past 40 years or on record. Last night, the CPI in June released by the United States rose as high as 9.1%. However, China’s prices continued to operate in a reasonable range. In the first half of the year, CPI rose by an average of 1.7%, which was significantly lower than that of other major economies, in sharp contrast to the high international inflation.
Wan Jinsong said that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to stabilizing prices. Since the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission has thoroughly implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continuously strengthened the construction of the production, supply, storage and marketing system of important commodities such as grain and coal, and responded to the uncertainty of the external environment with the certainty of domestic supply and stable prices, effectively ensuring the basic stability of prices. In terms of important livelihood commodities such as grain, we will make every effort to stabilize grain production, strengthen regulation and control to stabilize pig production capacity, strengthen the connection between vegetable production and marketing, and do everything possible to ensure the supply and price stability of important livelihood commodities. Since the Ukrainian crisis, China’s food prices have risen by about 1.4% on average, far lower than the increase of 7.5%-9.5% in the United States and Europe. In terms of energy, China has continuously increased coal production and supply, improved the coal market price formation mechanism, guided coal prices to operate in a reasonable range, stabilized electricity prices and energy costs by stabilizing coal prices, and the prices of electricity and gas for residents have always remained basically stable. However, the electricity and gas prices of residents in major economies such as the United States and Europe have risen sharply. For example, in May, the electricity price in the euro zone rose by about 30% year-on-year, and the gas price rose by about 50% year-on-year.