China's August CPI Rises in 0% Range for 7 Consecutive Months... Deflation Concerns Persist

China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August rose 0.6% year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced on the 9th.

Although this increase is higher than July's rise of 0.5%, it is 0.1 percentage points lower than Bloomberg's forecast of 0.7%.

A customer is purchasing vegetables at a market in Beijing, China.
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

China's CPI has been rising for seven consecutive months since February this year, when it turned positive at 0.7% year-on-year due to the Spring Festival (Chunje, Chinese New Year) effect. However, it has not surpassed the 1% threshold since February last year (1.0%), maintaining concerns about deflation (a decline in prices amid economic downturn).

Compared to the previous month, it increased by 0.4%.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% year-on-year.

By category, prices for food, tobacco, and alcohol increased by 2.1% year-on-year. In particular, fresh vegetable prices rose 21.8%, and fresh fruit prices increased by 4.1%. Pork prices jumped 16.1%. Beef and lamb prices fell by 12.9% and 6.3%, respectively.

Non-food prices rose 0.2%, consumer goods prices increased 0.7%, and service prices went up 0.5%.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for August fell 1.8% year-on-year. This marks the 23rd consecutive month of decline, the longest period since 2016.

The rate of PPI decline exceeded those of May (-1.4%), June (-0.8%), and July (-0.8%).

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