China moves to consolidate its growth prospects amid a string of economic data

BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China's growth prospects are being enhanced amid a string of recent economic data and upbeat forecasts from international organizations.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year on year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The figure was higher than the 0.1-percent increase in April.

On a monthly basis, the prices were slightly down by 0.2 percent, expanding from the 0.1-percent decline in the previous month.

The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, was up by 0.6 percent from a year earlier.

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the year-on-year price increase mainly to a high base in the corresponding period of 2022.

"In May, the CPI was generally stable," Dong said.

Tourists visit the Qingming Bridge historical community in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, May 1, 2023. (Photo by Huan Yueliang/Xinhua)

The NBS data also showed that the producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 4.6 percent year on year in May.

The decrease expanded by 1 percentage point from that in April. On a monthly basis, China's PPI went down 0.9 percent, according to the bureau.

Dong attributed the decline to an overall downward trend in international commodity prices, weak demand in domestic and foreign industrial product markets, and the high comparison base during the same period last year.

China aims to keep the inflation rate at around 3 percent for 2023. The country's consumer prices grew 2 percent from a year earlier in 2022.

China's weak price level in recent months has stoked worries over deflation, but authorities have reiterated that such concerns are unnecessary.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui has said there is no deflation in the Chinese economy at present, and there will not be any deflation in the coming period. Zou Lan, a central bank official, also said that the basis for either deflation or inflation in the long run does not exist as the aggregate supply and demand are balanced, the monetary conditions are reasonable and moderate, and residents' expectations are stable.

In a report unveiled on June 7 local time, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) raised China's economic growth expectation to 5.4 percent this year, 0.1 percentage points higher than the OECD's forecast made in March.

Also in this week, the World Bank lifted its prediction on China's economic growth this year by 1.3 percentage points to 5.6 percent in its Global Economic Prospects on June 6.

The World Bank said that China saw a robust recovery in economic growth in early 2023.

People visit the 133rd session of China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, April 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

As the latest evidence, China's total imports and exports expanded 4.7 percent year on year to 16.77 trillion yuan (about 2.36 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2023, showing continued resilience amid sluggish external demand.

Exports grew 8.1 percent year on year, while imports rose 0.5 percent in the first five months, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Wednesday.

Lyu Daliang, an official with the GAC, said that China has introduced a series of policy measures to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure of foreign trade, which has helped business operators actively respond to the challenges brought by weakening external demand and effectively seize market opportunities.

China's continued economic recovery serves as a boon for regional and world growth, according to experts.

The Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that the country is building a global-oriented and fully open unified domestic market. The unified market will provide various market entities, including foreign-invested enterprises, with a better environment and a bigger arena.

Economic expos, trade expos and special working mechanisms for major foreign investment projects will be leveraged in an improved manner to provide more platforms and better services, according to the commerce ministry.