Lanzhou, which is currently in lockdown due to a large Covid outbreak, said it was “urgently conducting interviews with large supermarkets” in the city as food supplies were disrupted due to the lockdown.
The city’s market supervision bureau said it had immediately entered a state of emergency and was conducting interviews with supermarkets, food markets, and online platforms about the food supply situation.
In addition, officials were investigating cases of price gouging and had already identified 15 cases.
While the city said it had sufficient supplies of food, it also dispatched deliveries of food and staples to residents. During Shanghai’s lockdown in April and May, grocery stores were closed, and residents relied on food deliveries from local officials or organized large group purchases of food directly from suppliers. Ongoing lockdowns in China continue to weigh on food demand and will be a headwind for agricultural demand for the foreseeable future.