MNI DATA IMPACT: China Dec CPI Flat at 4.5%

     BEIJING (MNI) - Inflation in China stayed flat at 4.5% in Dec 2019 on a

monthly basis, missing the 4.7% expected by most economists.  

     CPI for 2019 came in at 2.9% y/y, just below the government-imposed 3%

ceiling for the whole year, representing the largest annual gain since 2011. 

     Meanwhile, the PPI for 2019 declined 0.3% y/y, compared with 2018's 3.5%.

     Here are key takeaways from data released by the National Bureau of

Statistics on Thursday:

     - The CPI growth was tame on slower pork price gains, which decelerated to

97.0% y/y from November's 110.2%. Declining pork prices also brought down the

cost of beef, mutton, chicken, duck and eggs, which rose between 7.3% to 20.4%

y/y, all slower than in Nov.

     - Food prices, the main driver for the CPI, grew by 17.4% y/y, accounting

for 3.43 percentage points of the CPI gain. The core CPI, excluding food and

energy prices, remained flat at 1.4% from Nov.

     --The CPI gained 0.0% monthly, down from 0.4% in the previous month. 

     - The PPI significantly recovered to -0.5% y/y from -1.4% in November,

given improved prices on ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal, chemical and fuel

products. The figure was close to the forecast of -0.4%.

     - While it increased on an annualized basis, the PPI was flat at 0.0% in

Dec-Nov, compared with a 0.1% fall in Nov-Oct.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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