China’s consumer price index (CPI), edged down 0.5 percent year on year in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Saturday.
On a monthly basis, the CPI, a main gauge of inflation, also slipped 0.5 percent.
The dip in November’s CPI was mainly driven by downward movements in food and energy prices. These factors aside, the core CPI maintained a mild 0.6 percent increase year on year, said Dong Lijuan, NBS senior statistician.
Similarly, average CPI from January to November increased 0.3 percent over the same period last year, NBS data showed.
Meanwhile, the country’s producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 3 percent year on year and 0.3 percent month on month.
The fall in PPI widened last month, due to a slump in international oil prices and weak demand for certain industrial commodities, Dong added.
The latest CPI data points to sluggish demand, Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research at JLL Greater China, told CGTN. It remains a policy priority for China to deliver sustainable and balanced growth, he said.
Given the low base effect, the inflation data next year would not be facing as much contractionary pressure, Pang added.
