Jan 11, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei

The National Bureau of Statistics announced this morning that China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.5 percent year-on-year in December, an increase on the pace of growth registered in November, when the index rose by 2 percent compared to 12 months earlier.

On average over the course of 2012, overall consumer prices were up by 2.6 percent when compared to 2011, well below the target of 4 percent growth set by Premier Wen Jiabao during his annual work report to the National People's Congress in March last year.

China's CPI averaged growth of 5.4 percent in 2011.

According to the NBS, prices grew by 2.5 percent in both urban and rural areas. Food prices went up by 4.2 percent, contributing 1.37 percentage points to the overall increase in CPI. Non-food prices increased by 1.7 percent.

The price of consumer goods went up by 2.5 percent and the price of services grew by 2.5 percent.
 
The prices of fresh vegetables rose by 14.8 percent, contributing about 0.41 percentage points to the overall price level. The price of meat, poultry and related products rose by 1.4 percent after falling 1.8 percent in November. The price of pork was down 6.2 percent year-on-year.

According to the NBS, housing-related prices were up by 3 percent year-on-year in August. With rental costs up 3.3 percent.

The producer price index (PPI), another measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.9 percent in November.

Links and Sources
National Bureau of Statistics: 2012年12月份居民消费价格变动情况
National Bureau of Statistics: 2012年12月份工业生产者价格变动情况