The Guardian is reporting that Japan is to flood the market with almost a quarter of a million tonnes of stockpiled rice in an unprecedented attempt to arrest soaring prices caused by record summer heat, panic buying and distribution problems.

Agriculture minister, Taku Eto, says the government will release up to 210,000 tonnes of rice, as consumers battled a surge in prices of more than 50 per cent in recent months.

Speaking shortly before the decision, Eto noted that the government did not normally intervene in the market, but conceded that recent price rises have had a significant impact on people’s lives.

He says the price hike has been too sharp.

The latest average retail price of an 11 pound bag of the Japanese staple was 3,688 Yen, according to a government survey, over 1,500 Yen more than last year.

Japan’s government has previously dipped into its rice reserves in the aftermath of natural disasters or crop failures, but this is the first time it has intervened over distribution issues, including when supply chain disruption contributes to rising prices.

More than 20 million consumers have applied for China’s electronic products trade-in subsidies since the government launched the pro-consumption program three weeks ago, data from the commerce ministry showed Sunday.

Some 20.09 million consumers applied for the subsidies to buy 25.41 million units of electronic products such as mobile phones as of Saturday, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China started to offer subsidies for electronic products trade-in from Jan 20 as the country expanded the scope of consumer goods trade-in program to further boost consumption, which provides consumers with up to 500 yuan ($69.7) apiece on the purchase of digital products.

Card payment giant China UnionPay said it has recorded 6.27 million subsidized transactions with sales value totaling 20.58 billion yuan in the reporting period.

Driven by the government incentives, mobile phone sales in China jumped by 74 percent in volume and 65 percent in value on a weekly basis in the week prior to the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 29 this year, market data revealed.

China launched an action plan to promote large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods in March 2024 as part of efforts to boost domestic demand and support economic growth. Official data showed that the trade-in scheme has boosted sales of automobiles by 920 billion yuan last year, and that of home appliances by 240 billion yuan. (Article from China Daily)

China firmly opposes U.S. pressuring and coercion that smear and sabotage BRI cooperation. We deeply regret Panama’s decision to not renew the MoU on BRI.

BRI is an economic cooperation initiative with the participation of 150+ countries, including 20+ LAC countries. It has delivered tangibly for people in these countries, including Panama.

We hope that Panama will steer clear of external disruption and make the right decision which is good for bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples.