中文
China's consumer price index (CPI) was flat in September after a 0.1% increase in August. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.2% after a growth of 0.3% in the previous month, data showed from the National Bureau of Statistics on October 13.
Weaker food prices were a big drag on September's CPI price. Food prices collectively fell 3.2% from a year earlier.
In particular, the NBS said the price of pork — a key staple meat in Chinese diets — tumbled 22% last month from a year ago. That's as the price of livestock and meat collectively dropped 12.8% and the price of fresh vegetables fell 6.4%.
The authorities attributed drops to high base of comparison a year ago and sufficient supply during Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
"The market supply is relatively sufficient before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day this year, and the food price increase is slightly lower than the historical average for the same period,” said Dong Lijuan, chief statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, in a statement.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 2.5% year on year in September, following a 3% fall a month earlier. The drop in factory prices, though, was the smallest in seven months.
On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.4%, compared with a 0.2% rise a month ago.
This was mainly because domestic raw material prices staged a recovery on the back of rising global commodity prices.
An earlier survey showed manufacturing activity returned to expansion territory for the first time since April, propped up by policy support.
The prices of production materials narrowed the decline to 3% year on year in September, compared with a fall of 3.7% a month ago. Among major industries, the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry fell 3.3%, a decrease of 7.3 percentage points; the coal mining and washing industry decreased 15.6%, narrowing by 0.6 percentage points.
(Writing by Rebecca Liu Editing by Harry Huo)
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