China's CPI Turns Positive as Trade Strengthens

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, returned to positive growth in November after a string of negative readings that began in February this year. The indicator in November rose 0.6 percent from a year earlier, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced at a press conference earlier this morning in Beijing.

The bureau said food prices registered a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent in November.Analysts interviewed by the EO attributed the increase to seasonal factors and the indicator's relatively low growth at the same time last year. They also noted that China would not face inflationary pressure in the short-term.

The producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, dropped 2.1 percent in November from a year earlier, according to the bureau.

The decline was 3.7 percentage points lower than that in October, which was down 5.8 percent from a year earlier.

The country's industrial output in November rose 19.2 percent from a year earlier, 13.8 percentage points higher than the pace of growth in October.

Urban fixed-asset investment in the first eleven months registered a year-on-year increase of 32.1 percent, amounting to 16.86 trillion yuan.

Retail sales of consumer goods rose 15.8 percent to 1.13 trillion yuan.

China's central bank also released new lending data for November on Friday. New yuan-denominated lending in November rebounded slightly to 294.8 billion yuan (43.2 billion U.S. dollars) from October's 253 billion yuan.

China's General Administration of Customs also announced trade figures for November earlier today. Combined imports and exports rose 9.8 percent in November from a year earlier, ending a twelve-month decline, to reach 208.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The trade surplus was 177.96 billion dollars in the first eleven months, down 30.6 percent compared with the same period last year.

Links and Sources
National Bureau of Statistics: Announcement (Chinese)
National Bureau of Statistics: Announcement (English)
People's Bank of China: Statement (Chinese)
General Administration of Customs: Data  (Chinese)