Mar 11, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei

China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in February, a substantial increase on the pace of growth registered in January, when the index rose by 2 percent compared to 12 months earlier. The National Bureau of Statistics released the inflation data, along with other economic indicators on Saturday.

According to the NBS, prices grew by 3.2 percent in urban areas and 3.3 percent in the countryside. Food prices rose 6 percent, contributing just shy of 2 percentage points to the overall increase in CPI. Non-food prices increased by 1.9 percent.

The price of consumer goods went up by 3.3 percent and the price of services grew by 3.1 percent.
 
The prices of fresh vegetables rose by 10 percent, contributing about 0.34 percentage points to the overall price level. The price of meat, poultry and related products rose by 5.3 percent, though the price of pork continued to fall, down 1 percent year-on-year.

According to the NBS, housing-related prices were up by 2.8 percent year-on-year in February, with rental costs up 2.7 percent.

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

Last week in an address to the National People\'s Congress (NPC), Premier Wen Jiabao said that the central government expected the CPI to rise by about 3.5 percent over the course of 2013.

Links and Sources
National Bureau of Statistics: 2013年2月份居民消费价格变动情况
The Beijing News: 2月CPI涨幅创10个月新高 全年通胀压力大仍可控