Apr 9, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei

China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in March, a substantial decrease on the pace of growth registered in February, when the index rose by 3.2 percent compared to 12 months earlier. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the inflation data, along with other economic indicators on Tuesday.

According to the NBS, prices grew by 2 percent in urban areas and 2.2 percent in the countryside. Food prices rose 2.7 percent, a sharp fall from the 6-percent growth registered in February, contributing just 0.88 percentage points to the overall increase in CPI, down from the almost 2 percentage points that rising food prices contributed to the indicator in Februaty. Non-food prices increased by 1.8 percent.

The price of consumer goods went up by 1.7 percent and the price of services grew by 3.1 percent.

The prices of fresh vegetables fell by 10.3 percent year on year in March after rising by 10 percent in February. The price of meat, poultry and related products rose by 2.9 percent, though the price of pork continued to fall, down 5.5 percent year-on-year.

According to the NBS, housing-related prices were up by 2.9 percent year-on-year in March, with rental costs up 3.7 percent.

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

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 month in an address to the National People's Congress (NPC), former 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3月份居民消费价格变动情况, 2013年3月份工业生产者价格变动情况