China's CPI up 2.1 pct, PPI rises 4.6 pct in July

World
Europe

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.1 percent year on year in July, compared with 1.9 percent for June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI climbed 0.3 percent, according to the NBS data.

Non-food prices pushed the inflation rate higher, increasing 2.4 percent year on year and 0.3 percent month on month.

On a yearly basis, medical and health care prices ticked up 4.6 percent, transport and communications prices gained 3 percent, while costs of accommodation rose 2.4 percent. Educational, cultural and recreational prices increased 2.3 percent.

Food prices went up 0.5 percent year on year and edged up 0.1 percent month on month.

The price of pork, China's staple meat, continued to slump in July, down 9.6 percent year on year, dragging down CPI growth by 0.24 percentage point. On a monthly basis, however, it registered a 2.9-percent increase, faster than the 1.1-percent rise in June.

China is aiming to keep annual CPI growth at around 3 percent this year, the same as the target for 2017.

The average year-on-year CPI growth for the January-July period stood at 2 percent, according to the NBS.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 4.6 percent year on year in July, the NBS said on the same day.

The July growth slowed slightly compared with the 4.7-percent rise in June.

NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing said the carryover effect accounted for 3.9 percentage points in the PPI growth.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices went up 0.1 percent in July, according to the NBS.

Factory prices of production materials grew 6 percent year on year, contributing 4.5 percentage points to the overall PPI growth. Those of consumer goods climbed 0.6 percent year on year.

Of all industrial sectors, producer prices in oil and natural gas exploration surged 42.1 percent year on year, 9.4 percentage points faster than the previous month. Oil, coal and other fuel processing posted a 24.6-percent increase in producer prices.

Ferrous and nonferrous metal smelting and pressing saw slower producer price growth.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency