[Explanation] Recently, the price of onion and ginger has risen sharply, and it has been on the hot search one after another. Netizens jokingly called "Xiangqian onion" and "Jiangyou Army" ushered in the "day of turning over".

  [Concurrent] Ms. Xu, a Beijing resident

  It has risen since September, and it is now very expensive, because you, what Beijingers eat every day, then you can’t stop eating it because it’s so expensive, so eat less.

  [Concurrent] Mr. Han, a Beijing resident

  Last year I bought the green onions here. Last year, the green onions I bought was 9 hair 9 per catty, which is basically 9 hair 9, which is winter storage green onions. Then I bought two bundles. Last year I bought two bundles of green onions, which is 50 yuan. Money, just buy a small handful this year and it will cost more than 40.

  [Explanation] How expensive is onion ginger now?

How much does the price fluctuation of green onion and ginger affect people?

Recently, reporters visited various places in Beijing.

  [Explanation] In Xinfadi, Beijing, trucks are parked in the trading zone, where onions and ginger from many parts of the country are gathered and wholesale traded to Beijing and surrounding provinces and cities.

Feng Zhonglei has been operating the green onion business in Xinfadi for more than 20 years. He said that not only Beijing, but also the prices of green onions across the country are doubling and reaching the highest level in the past four years.

  [Concurrent] Feng Zhonglei, a merchant in Xinfadi

  The price is very high this year. This year the price is 60 to 70% higher than in previous years. At this time of the year, it is around RMB two or three. This year, the price is now around RMB four.

  [Explanation] The price of ginger is not cheap. Liu Bin, who runs ginger wholesale in Xinfadi all the year round, introduced to reporters that since 2020, the price of ginger has been "rapidly". The wholesale price of ginger has risen from more than 3 yuan at the beginning of the year to 11 now.

  [Concurrent] Xinfadi merchant Liu Bin

  The wholesale price of old ginger last year was more than six yuan, six or seven yuan. This year, the wholesale price was eleven yuan per catty. The new ginger last year was more than four yuan. This year this new ginger cost more than five yuan per catty.

  [Explanation] What about the price of green onion and ginger in the sales terminal?

The reporter visited many supermarkets and vegetable markets and found that green onions sold for 4 yuan to 9 to 5 yuan per catty, new ginger sold for 6 yuan to 7 yuan per catty, and old ginger sold for 11 yuan per catty, 9 or even 14. At this time, the cheapest pork price in a supermarket was only 21 RMB 9.

  [Explanation] Why does the price of onion and ginger keep rising?

Chen Mingjun, executive vice president of the China Vegetable Circulation Association, analyzed that it was mainly due to the imbalance between supply and demand. Taking green onions as an example, the profitability of green onions in the first two years was not good. The main producing areas reduced the planting area. On the other hand, the production areas, especially Shandong In the main producing areas, production has also declined due to factors such as waterlogging.

  [Concurrent] Chen Mingjun, Executive Vice President of China Vegetable Circulation Association

  The elasticity of demand for onion, ginger and garlic is relatively small, which means that there are fewer alternative products. Although it is small, it is a rigid demand type, so this lack of supply leads to price increases.

  [Explanation] How much impact will the price fluctuation of onion and ginger have on residents' lives?

According to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in November, the national consumer prices fell by 0.5% year-on-year and 0.6% month-on-month, which is the opposite trend of rising prices of green onions and ginger.

Chen Mingjun pointed out that the consumption of onion and ginger occupies a small proportion of the residents' consumption weight, so the impact on residents' daily consumption is limited.

  [Concurrent] Chen Mingjun, Executive Vice President of China Vegetable Circulation Association

  Scallion, ginger, garlic, it is a condiment, it is an indispensable food for the ordinary people to eat three meals a day, although the amount of consumption in the total consumption expenditure in the proportion of a small proportion, but it is to our consumers this kind of price increase This stimulus is relatively strong.

  [Explanation] Chen Mingjun predicts that the price of ginger may drop before the Spring Festival, but the magnitude will not be too great, and the possibility of a sharp drop in the price of green onions in the later period is unlikely.

  Reporter Liu Chao reports from Beijing

Editor in charge: [Liu Xian]