China's consumer inflation relaxes to lowest point in two years

A shopper browses groceries at a supermarket in Zaozhuang, Shandong province. SUN ZHONGZHE/FOR CHINA DAILY

China's consumer inflation eased in April to an over 2-year low, while its factory-gate prices showed an annual fall for a seventh consecutive month, official data showed on Thursday.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, climbed 0.1 percent from a year earlier in April, down from 0.7 percent in March, cooling to the lowest rate since February 2021, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Food prices rose by 0.4 percent in April compared with a year ago, down from 2.4 percent in March. Pork, a staple in Chinese cuisine, saw prices surge by 4 percent, down from a rise of 9.6 percent in March.

The prices of poultry, fresh fruits and cooking oil increased by 6.7 percent, 5.3 percent and 4.8 percent respectively, down from those in the previous month. The prices of fresh vegetables dipped 13.5 percent in April, compared with the 11.1 percent decline in March.

Notably, prices for industrial consumer products declined 1.5 percent in April, mainly due to the drop in energy prices. The prices of gasoline and diesel fuel dropped 10.6 percent and 11.5 percent in April.

On a month-on-month basis, April's CPI dipped 0.1 percent after a 0.3 percent decline in March, the NBS said.

The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, rose by 0.7 percent year-on-year in April.

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, said the consumer inflation eased in April due to sufficient market supplies and a high comparison in the previous year, while the fall in factory-gate prices was affected by the fluctuations in international commodity prices, weak market demand at both home and abroad, as well as a high comparison base in the previous year.

The producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, was down 3.6 percent from a year earlier in April, compared with the 2.5 percent annual contraction seen in March, the NBS said.

On a month-on-month basis, PPI dipped 0.5 percent in April, said the NBS.