China’s consumer prices mark steepest fall in 3 years as post-Covid rebound falters
- Downward pressures on energy and food prices cited by Beijing as consumer price index falls 0.5 per cent year on year in November
- President Xi Jinping has warned that economic recovery is still ‘at a critical stage’
China’s deflationary pressure continued to intensify as November consumer prices registered a much bigger drop than in October, marking the steepest fall in three years.
The year-on-year CPI decline was the steepest since November 2020, as domestic demand struggles to pick up.
NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the decline to downward pressures on energy and food prices.
Year-on-year core inflation, excluding food and fuel prices, remained at 0.6 per cent, the same as October, highlighting difficulties in kick-starting China’s post-Covid recovery.
“Deflationary pressure has heightened as domestic demand remains weak. This highlights the importance of more supportive fiscal policy to boost domestic demand and avoid a further downward spiral in prices,” Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said.