On December 9, 2024, customers bought fruits in a supermarket in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province, China.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China’s consumer price in December A slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year, in line with expectationsBut growth slowed from last month, raising concerns about deflation, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual consumer price index to fall to 0.1% in December from 0.2% in November.
China’s industrial producer prices fell 2.3% year-on-year in December, falling for the 27th consecutive month. The data was slightly better than Reuters’ forecast of a 2.4% decline.
Persistently near-zero consumer inflation suggests China continues to struggle with weak domestic demand, which is fueling the specter of deflation.
Consumption has failed to pick up despite a series of stimulus measures launched by Beijing since then last septemberThese include cutting interest rates, supporting stock and property markets and increasing bank lending.
Just Wednesday, China expanded its consumer trade-in program aimed at stimulating consumption through: Equipment upgrades and subsidies.
However, some indicators suggest China’s economy may be recovering. of the country Factory activity has been expanding Although the pace of expansion slowed in December, growth has continued over the past three months.
Carlos Casanova, senior economist at private bank Union Bancaire Privée, said, “Although China’s economy shows some signs of recovery after the policy shift in September, it still faces significant challenges.” He listed China’s real estate sector faces headwinds as well as trade tensions with the United States.
Louise Loo, chief economist at Oxford Economics, expects China’s path to reflation to remain lower than most expect given continued weakness in consumer willingness to spend.
Chinese Onshore RMB On Wednesday, it hit a 16-month low of 7.3316 against the dollar on rising bond yields and a stronger dollar.
