China sees mild price growth as consumer demand expands

BEIJING - China's consumer prices gained mild growth in July as the domestic consumer demand continued to expand, official data showed Friday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.5 percent year-on-year in July, slightly higher than the 0.2 percent increase in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said that as consumer demand continued to recover, coupled with the impact of high temperatures and heavy rainfall in some areas, the CPI shifted from a month-on-month decline to an increase in July, with a larger year-on-year growth rate.

In food, affected by heat and torrential rain in some regions, the prices of fresh vegetables and eggs saw an increasing trend. As for non-food products, airline tickets and hotel accommodation prices rose significantly due to the booming demand for summer tourism, higher than the average level in the same period of the past decade.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent month-on-month from a 0.1 percent decline in June, surpassing the average of the same period in 10 years.

Due to the lack of market demand and the decline in the prices of some international commodities, China's producer price index was down 0.8 percent year-on-year in July, the same as the previous month.

Driven by a series of policies aiming to further expand domestic demand, the domestic consumer market has been growing since this year.

In the first half of this year, retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.7 percent year-on-year, adding to a steady economic recovery.

In April, the large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-ins of consumer goods program were introduced as a national campaign to better promote the consumption of electric vehicles, home appliances and more.

Yu Jianxun, an NBS official, stressed the necessity of unleashing consumption potential through trade-ins of consumer goods programs. By boosting residents' spending power, cultivating new consumption points and expanding the consumer market, the fundamental role of consumption in economic growth will be strengthened.

The National Development and Reform Commission, along with three government bodies, announced measures in late June to bolster consumption by introducing new scenarios in sectors such as tourism, automobiles and electronics.

Domestic demand should be expanded with a focus on boosting consumption, and economic policies should center on improving people's livelihoods and promoting consumption, according to a recent meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.