BEIJING / SHANGHAI - The panic buying of salt in China triggered by fears about radiation exposure following the nuclear leak in Japan had eased by Sunday after the government reassured people the country was not in danger and explained that salt would not help protect them anyway.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Sunday that "the panic buying of salt has stopped and the market is back to normal".

The ministry also said that, as of Saturday, the country's salt inventory was abundant.