China inflation: August consumer prices rise 0.1%, pointing to weak demand but easing deflation fears
- China’s consumer price index (CPI) rises by 0.1 per cent from a year earlier, a slight reversal from July but far below Beijing’s annual target
- Producer price index (PPI) falls for 11th month in a row, with factory-gate price deflation narrowing
China’s consumer price index (CPI) edged up by 0.1 per cent in August from a year earlier, reversing course slightly from a fall of 0.3 per cent in July, according to data published on Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Beijing has set a CPI control target of around 3 per cent growth for 2023.
Food prices dropped by 1.7 per cent, while services prices rose by 1.3 per cent, indicating an uneven post-reopening economic recovery. Consumer goods prices also dropped by 0.7 per cent year-by-year.
“There is a bit of improvement of the inflation profile. In the meantime, the PPI deflation appears to be narrowing, pointing to a slow and moderate restoring process. In general, the inflation still points to weak demand and requires more policy support in the foreseeable future,” said Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan International.