The jug of cooking oil may not occupy pride of place in your kitchen, but in China it has become an unlikely gauge of the country’s economy. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal (subscriptions required) both reported Wednesday that a major producer of cooking oil in China, Wilmar International, had raised the retail price of its products by 5%.
A public spat in China this week between a top government body and an important industry has shed some light on the Communist Party’s inner workings. The reason? Cooking oil. Bear with me on this one.
In early December, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state economic planner, convened cooking oil producers in Beijing. The commission requested that producers increase cooking oil supplies in the run-up to next year’s Chinese New Year holiday – without lifting prices. (more…)