The latest inflation data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics points to modest on-month price declines and robust on-year gains in March.
According to NBS figures China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.1% year-on-year in March, yet fell 1.1% compared to the preceding month.
The purchasing price index (PPI) reading rose 3.1% year-on-year, yet edged lower 0.2% compared to the preceding month.
NBS said in an official statement that the CPI on-month decline was largely due to the impact of the Chinese New Year vacation, and a drop in food prices after the holiday of 4.4%, compared a rise of 4.4% in the preceding month, bringing down the CPI reading by 0.86 percentage points.
Vegetable and fruit prices fell by 14.8% and 2.4% respectively, while pork and seafood prices fell by 8.4% and 3.2%, and the price of eggs dropped by 9.2%.
In terms of on-year changes, the CPI growth rate decelerated by 0.8 percentage points compared to the preceding month.
The PPI saw its on-month descent expand by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, with production good prices falling 0.2%, for an expansion of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month.
In terms of on-year changes, the PPI gain narrowed by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous month, with production goods price rising 4.1%, and living goods prices rising by 0.2%.
