China’s annual inflation rises to 3.2pc in February

China’s annual consumer inflation quickened to 3.2 per cent in February from January’s 2.0 per cent, data showed on Saturday in a further sign that China’s burgeoning recovery could be stoking price pressures.

The National Bureau of Statistics said in the same release China’s producer price index dropped 1.6 per cent in the year to February, the same pace as in January.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the February consumer price index to rise 3.0 per cent and factory gate prices to fall 1.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Month-on-month consumer prices rose 1.1 per cent versus the market consensus of a 0.8 per cent rise.