Soaring price of herbs suspicious

Guangzhou (CNS) -- Some speculators probably manipulated the drought in Yunnan Province to hike up the price of traditional Chinese medicine, a reporter on Friday learnt from Qingping Herbal Medicine Market, the largest one in the south China.

Yunnan is one of the major Chinese herbs production bases, home to 6,559 kinds of Chinese herbs and famous for precious ones like angelica, Tianma and pseudo-ginseng. The ongoing drought has dragged down production for three years and pushed herb prices up accordingly, or so that was the assumption.

The price went up faster than a rocket, is how a local elderly resident described it. According to Cantonese habits, spring and summer are a good time to stew food materials with Chinese medicine, so the added expense is a heavy burden for citizens.

Some industry experts have analyzed the price hike and concluded that besides Yunan, Anhui, Hebei and other provinces also serve as good provider of Chinese herbs, thus a drought in one area should not lead to an overall price hike. Speculation is strongly suspected.