China's consumer market remained broadly stable in May, while industrial producer prices continued their upward trend, according to the latest official data.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.1% month-on-month in May, while rising 1.2% year-on-year. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by 1.1% compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.5% from the previous month and was up 3.9% year-on-year. This increase was attributed to stronger domestic demand in certain sectors and the transmission of price fluctuations in international commodities.
Consumer Prices Remain Largely Unchanged
The month-on-month decline of 0.1% in the CPI, following a 0.3% increase in April, was primarily influenced by changes in energy and service prices. Domestic gasoline prices, affected by international oil price trends, shifted from a 12.6% rise in April to a 0.3% decrease in May. This change caused energy prices to drop by 0.1% after a 5.7% increase the previous month, contributing a downward pull of 0.01 percentage points on the monthly CPI.
Following the seasonal post-Labor Day travel decline, service prices fell by 0.1% after a 0.5% rise in April, contributing a downward pull of 0.03 percentage points. Within this category, vehicle rental and airfare prices dropped by 6.8% and 6.3%, respectively, after significant increases in April, collectively pulling the monthly CPI down by about 0.04 percentage points.
The launch of new summer clothing collections led to a 0.6% increase in apparel prices. Strong demand related to artificial intelligence drove up prices for mobile phones and tablet computers by 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively. These three items together contributed an upward push of about 0.05 percentage points to the monthly CPI.
Food prices fell by 0.4%, narrowing the decline by 1.2 percentage points from the previous month, and contributed a downward pull of about 0.07 percentage points. An abundant supply of seasonal vegetables led to a 3.6% drop in fresh vegetable prices, pulling the monthly CPI down by about 0.06 percentage points. Ample pork supply resulted in a 1.6% price decrease, with the rate of decline narrowing by 4.1 percentage points, pulling the monthly CPI down by about 0.03 percentage points. A combination of temporary tight supply, lower egg production rates due to summer heat, and pre-holiday stocking for the Dragon Boat Festival pushed egg prices up by 6.1%, contributing an upward push of about 0.03 percentage points.
Year-on-year, the CPI rose by 1.2%, maintaining the same growth rate as April. Prices for industrial consumer goods increased by 3.9%, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month and contributing about 1.18 percentage points to the annual CPI increase. Within this category, gasoline prices surged by 23.5%, influenced by a low base from the same period last year, contributing about 0.66 percentage points. Gold ornament price growth slowed to 39.0%, contributing about 0.17 percentage points. Prices for household appliances and clothing rose by 3.4% and 1.5%, respectively, together contributing about 0.12 percentage points.
Service prices increased by 0.8%, with the growth rate slowing by 0.1 percentage point, contributing about 0.40 percentage points. Travel service prices rose by 2.8%, with the growth rate decelerating by 0.9 percentage points, while other service prices remained generally stable.
Food prices fell by 1.7%, with the rate of decline widening by 0.1 percentage point, contributing a downward pull of about 0.30 percentage points. Pork prices dropped by 16.1%, with the decline widening by 0.9 percentage points, pulling the annual CPI down by about 0.31 percentage points. Fresh fruit prices fell by 2.2%, contributing a downward pull of about 0.04 percentage points. Prices for eggs, mutton, beef, poultry, aquatic products, and fresh vegetables all increased, with gains ranging from 0.6% to 8.4%, collectively contributing an upward push of about 0.13 percentage points.
Factory Gate Prices Continue to Rise
Month-on-month, the PPI increased by 0.5%, though the growth rate moderated by 1.2 percentage points from April. The main characteristics of the monthly PPI movement were as follows.
First, industrial restructuring and upgrading drove price increases in some sectors. Ongoing equipment renewal in manufacturing pushed prices in the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry up by 1.2%. The acceleration of electrification, deep integration of AI across sectors, and growing computing power demand boosted prices in nonferrous metals, electrical machinery, and computer-related industries. Prices for nonferrous metal smelting and rolling processing rose by 1.1%, with tin smelting and copper smelting prices up by 4.8% and 3.1%, respectively. Prices for computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased by 0.6%, with integrated circuit packaging and testing, and external storage devices and components up by 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Prices for electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing rose by 0.5%, with optical fiber manufacturing and wire and cable manufacturing up by 8.0% and 1.2%, respectively.
Second, seasonal demand increases lifted prices in certain industries. Coal demand for summer peak power preparation and non-power use increased, driving prices in coal mining and washing up by 3.2%. As temperatures rose in May, prices for household air conditioner manufacturing and household refrigeration appliance manufacturing increased by 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively, while power supply prices rose by 0.4%.
Third, the transmission of international crude oil price fluctuations led domestic related industry prices to shift from increase to decrease or see a slowdown in growth. Petroleum extraction prices fell by 1.8% month-on-month after a 24.1% rise in April. Refined petroleum product manufacturing prices dropped by 0.3% after a 19.0% increase. Prices for raw chemical materials and chemical products manufacturing, chemical fiber manufacturing, and rubber and plastic products rose by 2.0%, 1.5%, and 1.5%, respectively, with growth rates slowing by 6.3, 4.1, and 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
Year-on-year, the PPI rose by 3.9%, with the growth rate expanding by 1.1 percentage points from April. Among industries with price increases, nonferrous metal mining and dressing rose by 36.5%, nonferrous metal smelting and rolling processing increased by 24.0%, coal mining and washing was up 10.0%, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing rose 4.5%, computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased 2.1%, and ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing rose 1.0%. These six industries together contributed about 2.56 percentage points to the annual PPI increase, with their upward pull increasing by 0.51 percentage points from April.
Additionally, petroleum and natural gas extraction, petroleum, coal and other fuel processing, and raw chemical materials and chemical products manufacturing rose by 35.7%, 18.4%, and 12.7%, respectively, collectively contributing about 1.96 percentage points, with their upward pull increasing by 0.46 percentage points.
Among industries with price declines, non-metallic mineral products fell by 5.1%, production and supply of electric power and heat power dropped 4.4%, automobile manufacturing decreased 2.0%, and agricultural and sideline food processing fell 1.4%. These four industries together contributed a downward pull of about 0.75 percentage points, with their negative impact increasing by 0.01 percentage points from the previous month.
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