CPI Photo: VCG

China's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, was flat in September on a yearly basis, but rose 0.2 percent compared with previous month as consumption continues to recover, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

In September, the consumer market maintained a recovery trend while CPI continued to rise on a month-on-month basis. However, affected by the higher comparison base in the same period last year,  year-on-year figures remained flat, NBS said. 

CPI inched up 0.1 percent in August for the first year-on-year increase in three months.

Food prices fell by 3.2 percent year-on-year in September, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the previous month, according to the NBS, who noted that the drop was mainly due to higher food prices in the same period last year, which affected the CPI to fall by about 0.6 percentage points. 

Notably, prices for pork and fresh vegetables fell by 22 percent and 6.4 percent respectively, while the decline expanded by 4.1 and 3.1 percentage points respectively. The two factors jointly impacting CPI fell by about 0.51 percentage points, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total decline in food prices,  the NBS stated.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday that it will take further measures to boost the recovery of domestic consumption, and accelerate the implementation of measures already taken to boost sales of cars, furniture and electronics. 

Also on Thursday, MOFCOM and eight other ministries issued guidelines on promoting high-quality development in the auto aftermarket. The guidelines include seven policy measures, including improving market conditions. 

Separately, PPI, the producer price index fell 2.5 percent in September from a year earlier, following a 3 percent drop in August. The drop in factory prices was the smallest in seven months, a fresh sign of recovery across the world's second-largest economy.

The gradual recovery of demand for industrial products and the continued rise in international crude oil prices, contribute to the month-on-month increase in PPI, the bureau said.

Global Times