A Commercial Information Forecast has been published by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and appeared on its website Monday, Huang Hai, assistant to the minister of commerce, told a press conference in Beijing that day.

This information forecast will broadcast weekly price falls and rises of nearly 60 agricultural products and of more than 40 means of production. Information appearing on the website will include the weekly top 10 best-selling products, and monthly sales figures for enterprises operating in wholesale, retail, catering, accommodation and other areas of business.

Also included will be the monthly storage status of important means of production and industrial consumables. Changes in the size of order for durable consumables and means of production will also be reflected. Expert opinion on hot market issues and trends will be included on a weekly basis. In addition, international, national and local market trends will be discussed regularly.

MOFCOM's urban and rural market information service system will provide information support for the forecast. The system includes basic indicators of eight major and 527 minor categories on market scale, consumption pattern, distribution networks, important commodities and enterprises as well as modernization and organizational levels. Based on the above indicators, MOFCOM released six comprehensive indices covering sale, price, orders, storage, commodity market and consumption trends.

It also includes an information storage system represented by the National Commodity Circulating Database, and an information gathering system made up of four direct monitoring systems on daily necessities, important means of production, key logistic enterprises and special domestic trade management, and three indirect monitoring systems on social information collection, special surveys and experts' evaluation.

So far there are more than 5000 sample enterprises under the direct monitoring of MOFCOM, which involves 600 consumables in 21 categories, 300 means of production in 11 categories, covering 258 cities and 147 counties. MOFCOM also has relevant information on 11 countries and regions.

(China.org.cn by Li Shen, April 19, 2006)