Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) — China’s consumer inflation eased in May, driven by lower energy and food prices, while producer prices also continued to fall, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.
According to the agency, in May the consumer price index /CPI/, the main indicator of inflation, fell by 0.1 percent year-on-year and by 0.2 percent month-on-month.
The main factor that influenced the May CPI was the decline in energy prices. The contribution of this group of goods to the decline in CPI on an annual basis was 0.47 percentage points, noted /GSU/ statistician Dong Lijuan.
According to her, positive price changes have been observed in some sectors against the backdrop of the country’s ongoing policy of stimulating consumption.
The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.6 percent year-on-year in May, compared to 0.5 percent in April, according to data from the State Statistics Service.
In May, food prices in the country fell by 0.4 percent year-on-year, while prices for non-food products remained unchanged.
Consumer prices fell by 0.5 percent, while service prices rose by 0.5 percent.
Overall, in January-May, the CPI in China fell by 0.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
The latest data from the State Statistics Service also showed that the producer price index (PPI), which measures the overall change in wholesale producer prices, fell 3.3 percent year-on-year in May, an improvement from a 2.7 percent drop in April.
Dong Lijuan attributed the decline in PPI to the fall in global crude oil prices, which led to lower prices in China’s oil-related industries, as well as a seasonal decline in demand for energy and raw materials. As the statistician explained, seasonal factors led to a decline in coal prices, while hot and rainy weather also disrupted construction activity in the southern regions.
On a monthly basis, the PPI fell by 0.4 percent in May. In the first five months of the year, the PPI declined by 2.6 percent compared to a year earlier. -0-