China: Inflation continues to decline in January
Consumer prices rose 0.5% from the previous month in January, following December’s flat reading. The acceleration was primarily driven by higher prices for food, especially fresh vegetables, ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays, which fell in early February this year.
Inflation declined from December’s 1.9% to an over one-year low of 1.7% in January. The print was below the 1.9% that market analysts had expected. Annual average inflation stabilized at December’s 2.1% in January.
Producer price inflation, meanwhile, slowed markedly from 0.9% in December to 0.1% in January. The reading was below market analysts’ expectations of 0.3% and the lowest result in over two years. Falling producer price inflation is expected to impact industrial profit, which could prompt authorities to unveil new measures to support economic growth.