China's consumer inflation hits nearly three-year high

China's consumer inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in nearly three years in December, while the decline in factory-gate prices narrowed, official data showed on Friday.

The country's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose by 0.8 percent year-on-year in December, following a 0.7 percent rise in November, marking the highest level since February 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.?

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, said the CPI growth is mainly driven by an accelerated rise in food prices. Dong added that policies aimed at expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption demonstrated their impact in China throughout last month, while the approach of the New Year holiday also contributed to the increase in household consumption.?

NBS data showed food prices rose 1.1 percent year-on-year in December, widening by 0.9 percentage points from the previous month.?

Within food prices, the increases in fresh vegetable and fresh fruit prices expanded to 18.2 and 4.4 percent in December, respectively. Prices of beef, mutton and aquatic products rose by 6.9, 4.4 and 1.6 percent, respectively, with all increases having widened. Pork prices fell 14.6 percent last month, with the decline narrowing slightly.?

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 0.2 percent in December, versus a 0.1 percent decline in November, the NBS data showed.?

The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of supply-demand conditions, rose by 1.2 percent year-on-year in December, unchanged from November and remaining above 1 percent for four consecutive months.?

Meanwhile, China's producer price index – which measures factory-gate prices – fell by 1.9 percent year-on-year in December, narrowing from a 2.2 percent drop in November, according to the NBS.?

The NBS statistician attributed the narrowing decline in factory-gate prices to positive changes in some industries, as various macroeconomic policies continued to take effect.?

"The construction of a unified national market has continued to advance, leading to a continued narrowing of year-on-year price declines in related industries," Dong added.

"At the same time, the cultivation and expansion of new quality productive forces, together with the effective release of consumption potential, have driven year-on-year price increases in a range of industries."?

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI increased by 0.2 percent in December, after a 0.1 percent rise in November, according to the NBS.?

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn