The consumer price index (CPI) in China, a key gauge of inflation, rose by 0.2 percent in October year-on-year, reversing from its decline seen a month earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Sunday.
The core CPI (excluding food and energy) kept on rising in October, marking the sixth consecutive monthly increase and reaching its highest level since March 2024, official data showed.
Analysts attributed the rebound in consumer prices to the government's package of fiscal and monetary stimulus to boost domestic consumption, as well as to the seasonal holiday effect during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in October.
The NBS said the CPI rose by 0.2 percent month on month as well, up 0.1 percentage point from September and slightly above the seasonal level. Urban prices climbed by 0.3 percent year on year, while rural prices fell by 0.2 percent. On a ten-month average (January–October) the CPI remained slightly negative, down 0.1 percent year-on-year.
NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the CPI turnaround to policy support for domestic demand and the boost from the National Day and Mid-Autumn holidays. "Measures to expand domestic demand continued to take effect, and the holidays helped push consumption," she said.
And, service prices reversed their previous decline and began to rise, shifting from a month-on-month drop of 0.3 percent seen in September to a 0.2 percent month‑on‑month rise in October, and were up by 0.8 percent year-on-year. Strong holiday travel lifted hotel, air and tourism prices — hotels, airfares and tour prices all rose markedly during the month — and medical and domestic services also contributed to the price rebound. Services added about 0.07 percentage points to the month-on-month CPI.
Industrial consumer goods excluding energy climbed by 0.3 percent month on month and 2.0 percent year on year, which contributes roughly 0.07 percentage points to the month-on-month CPI rise.
The NBS data also showed the country's producer price index (PPI), which measures factory-gate prices, fell by 2.1 percent month-on-month in October, with the pace of price decline narrowing by 0.2 percentage points from September.
Affected by factors such as improved supply-demand in some domestic industries and the transmission of international commodity prices, the PPI rose 0.1 percent month-on-month, reversing the flat performance seen in September, marking the first increase this year. It fell 2.1 percent year-on-year, with the decline narrowed by 0.2 percentage points compared to September, Dong said.
In October, market competition continued to improve, and outdated production capacity was seen exiting the market. The price declines in photovoltaic panels manufacturing, battery manufacturing, and automobile manufacturing narrowed by 1.4, 1.3, and 0.7 percentage points, respectively, according to Dong.
Dong highlighted price gains in several industrial lines, noting that technological innovation has empowered industrial transformation and upgrading, and that the intelligent, green, and integrated development of manufacturing performed well.
