MNI BRIEF: China Annual Inflation Slows In January, CPI +0.9%

China's January consumer price index slowed to 0.9% y/y from last 1.5% growth in December, with food decreasing 3.8% from year earlier, but the monthly gain edged up to 0.4% due to the strong demand ahead of the Chinese New Year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed.

The year-0on-year deceleration is attributed to a high base effect, the NBS said. Core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, was up 1.2% y/y, flat from the previous month.

The producer price index measuring factory gate prices further eased for the third month to 9.1% y/y from December's 10.3% y/y. On a monthly basis, PPI decreased 0.2%, the second monthly fall following last 1.2% m/m drop. The lower PPI is due to the vigorously promoted policy of ensuring supply and stabilising prices which pushed coal and steel prices continued to fall, the NBS said.