Photo: CFP

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.3 percent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics unveiled on Saturday, adding more positive signs to the country's upbeat economy performance since the first quarter of the year. 

Data showed clear signs that the consumption-driven recovery is being maintained from demand to production, laying the foundation for a strong recovery, analysts noted. 

Dong Lijuan, statistician from the NBS, pointed out that continuous consumption recovery reversed the 1-percent drop in CPI from March on a monthly basis, and further expanded growth on an annual basis. 

General food prices were down by 1 percent, narrowing by 2.2 percentage points from the reading in March. Prices of vegetables, meats, fruits and eggs declined due to sufficient supply, according to the NBS.

Non-food prices recorded a 0.3 percent increase, bouncing back from a 0.5-percent fall in March on monthly basis. Benefiting from holidays, non-food consumer prices, including flight tickets, vehicle rental, hotel and tourism products, reported a clear increase in prices. 

Core CPI, deducting for food and energy prices, was up 0.7 percent year-on-year last month, expanding 0.1 percentage point from March, according to the NBS.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dipped 2.5 percent year on year in April, narrowing by 0.3 percentage point from the drop in March. Dong noted that the country's industrial operation is keeping recovering, while some industries saw a seasonal drop in demand. 

Other economic indicators also showed that the world's second-largest economy remains on a steady recovery trend. 

China's trade in goods in the first fourth months of 2024 recorded an increase of 5.7 percent year-on-year to reach 13.81 trillion yuan ($1.91 trillion), data from China's General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday. 

Notably, in April alone, China's imports and exports reached 3.64 trillion yuan, rising 8 percent year-on-year. Exports stood at 2.08 trillion yuan with a year-on-year growth of 5.1 percent, while imports surged by 12.2 percent year-on-year to reach 1.56 trillion yuan, thanks to improving overseas demand as well as strengthening domestic consumption demand. 

Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Saturday that data for China's foreign trade and domestic economic indicators were correlated, which all pointed to an encouraging link between demand and production. 

"The current 0.3 percent growth in CPI is positive, while relatively moderate. It has shown a strong momentum for a further improvement in production, which also needs supports from policy and market players," Hu noted. 

Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, pointed out that the nation's economy is still facing challenges, and needs more support to boost consumption and market investment.

Policymakers have vowed to further step up policy measures to further consolidate the recovery. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee noted that the economy has secured a good start this year, and urged to front-load efforts to effectively put the established macro policies in place, and well implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, according to Xinhua.  

Global Times