China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.1 percent year-on-year in December, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.
In 2024, China’s yearly CPI increased by 0.2 percent, showing a moderate growth in consumer price levels, NBS data showed.
The CPI number showed that the consumer market operated steadily in December, with CPI remaining flat month-on-month, but slightly down from the 0.2-percent growth seen in November, according to NBS.
The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, jumped by 0.4 percent year-on-year in December, an acceleration of 0.1 percentage point compared with November, the NBS said.
Food prices fell 0.5 percent year-on-year in December, with the prices of pork, a staple meat in China, and fresh vegetables gaining 12.5 percent and 0.5 percent year-on-year. Non-food prices rose 0.2 percent year-on-year last month.
In breakdown, gold jewelry price soared by 27.2 percent, and the prices of fossil fuel-powered cars and new energy vehicles declined by 4.7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Service sector prices were up by 0.5 percent in December compared with a year earlier, said the NBS.
The NBS data also revealed that China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures production cost at the factory gate, went down by 2.3 percent year-on-year in December.
The price decline in December, which the NBS attributed to factors such as industries entering traditional off-season for production, as well as the transmission of price fluctuations on the international market, narrowed by 0.2 percentage points from November.