NBS: China's Feb CPI rises 1.3%, PPI slips 0.9% YoY

In February, China's CPI registered its largest on-year growth for the past three years, and the on-month growth rate also touched a two-year high. The rapid increases were attributed to the robust consumer activities during the nine-day Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, according to Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with NBS.

For example, with the travel demand growing in the national holiday, China's prices for air ticket, car rental, and hotel accommodation in February increased by 31.1%, 24.7%, and 7.3% on month, respectively, and compared with the same month last year, these prices rose 29.1%, 19.8%, and 5.4%, NBS data showed.

Meanwhile, food prices were also buoyed by the holiday mood. Domestic prices for fresh fruits rose 4% on month and increased 5.9% on year, and those for beef rose 1.8% on month and jumped 9.6% on year, according to NBS data.

China's core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, continued to move upward in February, growing 0.7% on month and 1.8% on year, NBS data showed.

On the other hand, China's February PPI posted the fifth straight on-month rise, and its on-year decline continued to shrink, supported by the strengthening of global industrial prices as well as improved macro environment in China, Dong noted.

For example, driven by the rising nonferrous metals prices across the world, Chinese prices for nonferrous metals manufacturing and processing increased by 4.6% on month and surged 22.1% on year in February.

Meanwhile, the country's prices for steelmaking and fabrication edged up 0.1% on month in February, though compared with the same month last year the prices dropped 3.4%, according to NBS data.

During January-February, China's CPI gained 0.8% from the same period last year, while its PPI dropped 1.2% on year, NBS statistics showed.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com