BCN-08 China’s CPI up 2.3 pct in August

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ZCZC

BCN-08

CHINA-CONSUMER-PRICE-INDEX

China’s CPI up 2.3 pct in August

BEIJING, Sept. 10, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – China’s consumer price index (CPI),
a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent year on year in August, compared
with 2.1 percent for July, official data showed Monday.

The pickup was driven by a fast increase in non-food prices, which rose
2.5 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its
website.

Prices for medical products and services rose 4.3 percent year on year,
transport and communications prices gained 2.7 percent, while educational,
cultural and entertainment prices rose 2.6 percent, the bureau said.

Food prices rose 1.7 percent year on year, contributing to a 0.33-
percentage-point increase in the overall CPI increase.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 0.7 percent from July, as
food prices rose 2.4 percent from July.

China is aiming to keep annual CPI growth at around 3 percent this year,
the same as the target for 2017.

The average year-on-year CPI growth for the first eight months stood at 2
percent, unchanged from the first seven months, according to the NBS.

The producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory
gate, rose 4.1 percent year on year in August, slowing from the 4.6-percent
increase in July.

BSS/XINHUA/HR/0942