Man Buys 300KGS of Rice in China's Latest Stockpiling Craze
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▲Supermarket shoppers are pictured in Beijing on November 2. Photo: EPA-EFE
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce urging local authorities to ensure there was adequate food supply during the winter and encouraging people to stock up on some essentials prompted concerned talk online.
This statement was captured by some online media accounts who associated it with the widening coronavirus outbreak, a forecast cold snap, or even rising tensions with TW.
The topic “Ministry of Commerce encourages households to stockpile daily necessities as needed” had over 17 million views on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social platform, and more than 5,000 people had commented on it as of 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Beijing time.
By 6:13 p.m. views had risen to more than 43 million although the number of comments had fallen to 4,809.
The result? People started stockpiling and punic-buying, in one case a netizen in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, posted a photo of people in the supermarket buying a large number of daily necessities, while another citizen in Qidong City bought 300 Kilogrammes of rice.
The staff of one of the largest supermarkets in Zhonglou District of Changzhou told BAFLA news reporter that hundreds of shopping carts were not enough for customers on monday.
"We suggested that citizens should not come to the supermarket today. Our supply is sufficient and there is no need to punic-buy everything in a single day."
▲Some shelves in a supermarket were emptied due to punic-buying in Qidong city, Jiangsu Province.
The supermarket staff also told reporters that most of these customers rushed to the supermarket after hearing some news on the Internet. When the reporter asked whether she also hoarded some commodities, she said she believed that the country could fully guarantee food supply and did not rush to buy anything.
▲Scene of a supermarket in Bengbu, Anhui Province, source: weibo
It's not just Jiangsu, other provinces and cities such as Bengbu, Anhui Province, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Henan Province also reported the same trend.
The state media Economic Daily put out a report saying that people shouldn’t over-think or become anxious about the original MOFCOM statement. It argued that the call to stock up on food was so people would be prepared if they had to quarantine at home during the current outbreak.
Shares of food manufacturers surged in China on the news, with Fu Jian Anjoy Foods Co. jumping as much as 9.2%. Noodle maker Chen Ke Ming Food Manufacturing Co. rose almost 10% at one point, while Toly Bread Co. advanced at much as 6.5%.
China’s bracing for a cold snap this week, with temperatures in some regions forecast to fall by as much as 15 degrees Celsius. Vegetable prices typically rise when the temperature drops in winter and supply is unable to catch up with increasing demand before the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Monday statement told local commerce departments to coordinate more to improve local and inter-provincial supply chains for vegetables and also to strengthen monitoring of the prices of key staples such as vegetables and meat.
Major agricultural distributors were encouraged to sign long-term contracts with producers, while provinces in both southern and northern China were told to improve their vegetable reserve systems and also release meat and vegetables from the reserves in a timely manner to replenish supplies.
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