Vegetable traders check the amount of money at a vegetable market in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2012. China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.4 percent year-on-year in April, according to new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Friday. CPI growth in April eased slightly from the 3.6-percent rate registered in March. It hit a 20-month low of 3.2 percent in February. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's inflation eased slightly in April as warming weather led to a drop in food prices, building up confidence that the government's annual targets set for the area could be met.
The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.4 percent year-on-year in April, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.
The growth eased slightly from the 3.6-percent rate registered in March. It hit a 20-month low of 3.2 percent in February.
The Chinese government is aiming to keep CPI increases to around 4 percent.
Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, increased 7 percent last month from one year earlier. The growth compared to the 7.5-percent rate registered in March.
On a monthly basis, food prices dropped 0.9 percent from March, the NBS said.
Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed that despite a small rebound at the end of April, farm produce prices continued falling in the month, with prices of vegetables and pork significantly down.
"We expect that the CPI will continue falling in May and June, possibly to below 3 percent. But it will rebound in the third and fourth quarter with a recovery of economic growth," said Wang Jun, a researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
Considering recent fuel price cuts and local government discussions about adjusting charges of some public utilities, the inflation trend will depend on the range of these price adjustments, he said.
In response to lower crude prices on the global market, China on Thursday lowered per-tonne retail prices of gasoline and diesel by 330 yuan (52.38 U.S. dollars) and 310 yuan, respectively.
Meanwhile, Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier.
The data marked another month of decline year-on-year after China's PPI saw a drop in March for the first time since December 2009, NBS data showed.
"The decline of PPI will transfer to CPI," said Zhang Liqun, of the Development Research Center of the State Council, adding the April CPI matched his estimate.
The People's Bank of China, or the central bank, said Thursday that the country will maintain a prudent monetary policy in the months ahead, while fine-tuning the policy in a timely and appropriate manner.
Dragged down by sagging exports and domestic tightening efforts intended to curb inflation, the country's economic growth hit an 11-quarter low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012, well below expectations of 8.3 to 8.5 percent.
Although some feared the possibility of a hard landing, some economists believe the economy may rebound more quickly than expected as a result of robust inner growth dynamics.
Jing Ulrich, managing director of JP Morgan Chase, said China's growth may have hit rock bottom in the first quarter before edging higher in subsequent quarters.
She expects more monetary fine-tuning to buoy the economy, including two to three cuts in banks' reserve requirement ratios this year after two similar cuts over the past five months and a lending jump in March.
Some researchers, however, worried about risks of loose monetary policy. "When you deduct the current inflation, the real economic growth would be just about 4 percent based on the government's annual growth target of 7.5 percent," said Wen Zongyu, a researcher with the Ministry of Finance.
He added the authorities should be cautious about loosening moves because farms were lacking supplies and risks of imported inflation lingered.
Last year the country's inflation went beyond the government's full-year target of 4 percent, hitting 5.4 percent, and only began to show signs of easing this year as the government's efforts to hem in the runaway prices gradually worked.
As inflation concerns gradually ease, the government is taking cautious steps, including a lowering of the reserve requirement ratio in November 2011 and again in February this year, to loosen policies in a bid to spur the slowing economy.
The country's CPI climbed 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2012compared with the previous year. On a monthly basis, the CPI edged down 0.1 percent in April, according to the NBS.
Consumer prices may rebound as rising labor costs and a volatile global commodity market add to inflationary pressures, the central bank warned in Thursday's report to address the country's monetary policy adopted in the first quarter.
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. Full story
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales grew 14.1 percent year on year to 1.56 trillion yuan (247.8 billion U.S. dollars) in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.
After deducting inflation, retail sales growth in real terms was 10.7 percent in April and on a monthly basis, sales went up 1.13 percent. Full story
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial value-added output grew 9.3 percent year on year in April after adjusted by inflation, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. Full story
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's urban fixed-asset investment rose 20.2 percent year on year to 7.5592 trillion yuan (1.2 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.
Investment in property development increased 18.7 percent from a year earlier, the NBS said. Full story
BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The growth of China's inflation rate is expected to ease in April from the previous month with the slowing of food price rises, according to a report released by the Bank of Communications.
The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is likely to increase 3.3 percent year-on-year in April, slightly down from March's 3.6-percent growth, the bank said in an email report to its clients. Full story
