NBS: China May CPI down 0.1%, PPI falls 3.3% YoY

The slight decrease in the country's CPI was caused mainly by the decline in energy prices last month, commented Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with NBS. For example, China's petrol prices in May fell by 3.8% on month, NBS data showed.

Last month, domestic food prices also dipped 0.2% on month and dropped 0.4% on year, with the prices of fresh vegetables sliding 5.9% on month and down 8.3% on year, according to the NBS data.

In contrast, the prices for hotel accommodation in May went up 4.6% from April as people's travel activity improved around the country's five-day Labour Day holiday at the beginning of last month, the data showed. "The hotel room rates registered their largest on-month increase in a decade for the same month," Dong noted.

Excluding food and energy, China's core inflation in May stood unchanged on month and climbed 0.6% on year, NBS statistics showed.

On the other hand, China's PPI continued to track lower last month and registered larger on-year decrease, dragged by the weakening prices of energy and industrial products both at home and overseas, according to NBS.

For example, with by the falling crude oil prices in the international market, Chinese prices for oil and natural gas drilling in May fell 5.6% on month and plunged 17.3% on year.

Meanwhile, the prices of coal mining and processing dropped 3% on month and slumped 18.2% on year amid supply surplus against waning demand, NBS data showed. In parallel, the prices for the steelmaking and fabricating sector also slid 1% on month and slid by 10.2% on year.

During January-May this year, China's CPI dipped 0.1% on year, while the PPI decreased 2.6% compared with the same period last year, according to NBS statistics.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com