China's CPI up 2.1%, PPI down 0.8% in January

China's factory-gate prices showed an annual fall for a fourth month in January while consumer inflation accelerated, official data showed on Friday. 

The producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, was down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 0.7 percent annual contraction seen in December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics data issued on Friday. 

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI declined by 0.4 percent in January after a 0.5 percent decrease in December, said the NBS. 

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, said the fall in factory-gate prices was affected by international oil price fluctuations and China's falling coal prices, while consumer inflation accelerated in January due to factors such as seasonal patterns and the optimization of COVID-19 control measures. 

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose at its fastest pace in three months, climbing 2.1 percent from a year earlier in January, which is higher than the 1.8 percent annual rise seen in December. 

Compared with a year ago, food prices increased by 6.2 percent in January, up from 4.8 percent in December. Pork, a food staple in China, saw prices surge by 11.8 percent, down from a 22.2 percent rise in December. The prices of eggs, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables rose by 8.6 percent, 13.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. 

On a month-on-month basis, the January CPI increased by 0.8 percent, while no price growth was registered in December, the NBS said. 

The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, rose by 1 percent year-on-year in January after 0.7 percent rise in December.