Aug 9, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced this morning that China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in July. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that CPI growth fell below 2 percent.

June was the previous low of the past 29 months with 2.2 percent CPI growth.

According to the NBS, the CPI rose 1.9 percent in urban areas and 1.5 percent in rural areas. The price of food increased 2.4 percent while non-food prices increased 1.5 percent. The price of consumer goods increased 1.7 percent and service items 2 percent.

From January to July, the overall CPI rose 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

The price of vegetables rose 8 percent, contributing 0.21 percentage points to the overall increase in CPI, while fresh fruit went up 8.7 percent, contributing 0.15 percentage points to the CPI. The prices of grain and oil rose 3 percent and 5.9 percent respectively.

The price of meat, poultry and related products decreased 6.1 percent, while the price of pork dropped 18.7 percent.

According to the NBS, the price of housing-related costs increased 2.1 percent year-on-year. This includes the price of rent, which increased 3.1 percent, and housing construction and decoration materials, which increased 0.5 percent.  

Links and Sources
The National Bureau of Statistics:  2012年7月份居民消费价格变动情况
China News Service:  7月经济数据今公布 CPI涨幅或两年半来首次跌破2%