October 14, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei

China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1 percent year-on-year in September, half a percentage point faster than the 2.6 percent registered in August. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the inflation data earlier this morning.

According to the NBS, prices grew by 3 percent in urban areas and 3.3 percent in rural areas. Food prices rose 6.1 percent, faster than the 4.7 percent expansion in August, contributing almost 2 percentage points to the overall increase in CPI.

Non-food prices increased by 1.6 percent, about the same pace of growth registered last month. The price of consumer goods rose by 3.1 percent and the price of services grew by 2.9 percent.

The NBS also said that China's CPI grew by 2.5 percent over the first nine months of 2013 when compared to the same period last year.

In March 2013, 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.

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 that year.

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

The NBS reported that prices of fresh vegetables rose by 18.9 percent in September, a big jump on the 5.2 percent increase in August. The price of meat, poultry and related products rose by 6.6 percent, a slowing from the 7.2 percent growth registered last month.

The price of pork increased by almost 6 percent September on a year-on-year basis, about the same pace of growth seen last month. According to the NBS, housing-related prices were up by 2.6 percent year-on-year in September, with rental costs up 4.4 percent, the same pace of year-on-year growth registered last month.

The producer price index (PPI), another measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.3 percent in September when compared to the same month in 2012. This marked the 19th consecutive month that the PPI reading has been negative.

Over the first nine months of 2013, the PPI fell by 2.1 percent when compared to the same period of 2012.

Links and Sources
National Bureau of Statistics: 2013年9月份居民消费价格变动情况
National Bureau of Statistics: 2013年9月份工业生产者价格变动情况
Economic Observer Online: China\'s CPI Up 2.6% in August