BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods in April rose 22.0 percent year on year to 814.2 billion yuan (about 116billion U.S. dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.
That brings China's retail sales of consumer goods in the first four months of this year to 3.3697 trillion yuan, up 21.0 percent, compared with 20.6 percent growth rate recorded in the first quarter of this year.
Zhang Liqun, an economist of the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council, or the cabinet, said the April retail sales figure represents an increase of 6.5 percentage points year-on-year, including the inflation factor, which stood at 5.5 percentage points higher.
The real growth would be only one percentage point higher year-on-year if the inflation factor was deducted, indicating price rises are stable in general, Zhang said.
Retail sales of consumer goods in April in urban areas were up 22.9 percent to 555.9 billion yuan, while the retail sales of consumer goods at county level or below totaled 258.3 billion yuan, up 20.1 percent.
The retail sales of food and cooking oils were up 36.3 percent, followed by meat and eggs, 30.8 percent and jewellery made of gold, silver and precious stone, 41.0 percent, automobile, 25.7 percent, crude oil and related refined products, 45.4 percent.
China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year in April, compared with 8.3 percent in March and a nearly 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February.
China's central bank moved to raise the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks by 0.5 percentage point on Monday, lifting China's reserve requirement ratio to a new high of 16.5 percent as of May 20.
China has hiked interest rates six times and the reserve requirement ratio 14 times since last year to curb inflation and prevent economic overheating.
PBOC: Cutting inflation to remain top
goal
BEIJING, May 11 -- China's monetary authorities are
struggling to address conflicting policy goals, but inflation will remain the
top policy concern, the country's central bank governor said on Saturday.
While the United States and other countries are more
focused on fending off a recession, China's monetary policy must target
inflation over growth and employment, Zhou Xiaochuan, the People's Bank of China
governor, told a forum in Lujiazui, Shanghai's financial center. Full story
Banker: Reducing trade surplus key to
growth
BEIJING, May 11 -- China needs to cut its high
savings rate to boost consumption and reduce the trade surplus, People's Bank
of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Saturday.
"The government has pledged to boost consumption and
cut the surpluses in trade and capital accounts," Zhou said at the Lujiazui
Forum 2008 in Shanghai. That "requires that we reduce the current high savings
ratio," he said. Full story
China keeps stable domestic grain
market
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Amid a major wave of
international grain price hikes, China has managed to maintain stable domestic
prices.
Wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged
more than 140 percent in March, and rice prices went up over 80 percent.Full story
China's producer price index up 8.1%
in April
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua)
-- The producer price index (PPI) for China's industrial products rose 8.1
percent in April over the same month last year, putting on more pressure on the
nation's inflation rate, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.
The factory-gate prices of raw materials, fuel and power
were up 11.8 percent. Full story
Inflation expected to go down in
Q2
BEIJING, May 7 -- Inflation could dip to 7.5 percent
in the second quarter from 8 percent in the first, but inflationary pressures
will stay strong because of surging grain prices and robust investment, said a
top government think tank.
"Seasonal changes and government measures to boost
agricultural supplies may cause consumer prices to slide in the second quarter,"
the State Information Center said in a report. "But inflationary pressure is
still mounting because of domestic and international factors." Full story
Greater controls set to protect
economy
BEIJING, May. 10 -- High inflation and fixed-asset
investment growth are China's biggest economic concerns, prompting authorities
to persist with a tight monetary policy, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said on
Friday.
In an address to the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, Wang
also said the government would take specific measures, including prudent fiscal
policies and strengthened and refined macroeconomic controls, to curb an
overheated economy and inflation. Full story
China's inflation pressures ease, but
target still elusive
BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The slowing growth of
China's main inflation indicator is set to continue in the April figures, thanks
to falling farm produce prices, market analysts said on Sunday.
The consumer price index (CPI), which hit 8.7 percent
for February and 8.3 percent for March, would probably be around 8 percent for
April over the same month last year, said Chen Jijun, an analyst with Citic
Securities. Full story
