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China's CPI edges down 0.1% in May, core inflation rises as consumption gains momentum: NBS(Global Times) 14:08, June 09, 2025
China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged down in May, but core CPI growth expanded year-on-year, indicating positive price dynamics, official data showed on Monday.
The CPI dropped by 0.1 percent year-on-year last month, matching the decline rate seen in April, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the year-on-year CPI decrease primarily to a 6.1-percent drop in energy prices.
Nevertheless, the core inflation's uptick in May is a manifestation that the Chinese government's consumption-boosting policies have been effective, with the prices in certain sectors showing encouraging growth momentum.
The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.6 percent year-on-year last month, with the growth rate expanding by 0.1-percentage points from a month earlier. Notably, prices of recreation-sector durable goods increased by 1.8 percent year-on-year, while broad service sector prices rose by 0.5 percent, marking their faster growths than April.
On a monthly basis, the CPI slipped by 0.2 percent in May. Dong noted that the month-on-month change from growth to decline was largely driven by falling energy prices.
However, hotel accommodation prices surged by 4.6 percent in May, marking the highest increase for the same period in nearly a decade, while travel-related expenses rose by 0.8 percent, both exceeding seasonal norms.
Boosted by holiday effects, holiday travel and cultural events in tandem with broader consumption recovery are supporting price stability in major segments, the NBS said.
The NBS data also showed the country's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell by 3.3 percent year-on-year in May, with the decline widening by 0.6 percentage points from April.
Dong explained that the expanded year-on-year PPI decline was partly due to a higher base of comparison in the same period last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the PPI dropped by 0.4 percent, unchanged from April's pace.
Dong highlighted emerging positive signals, including price rebounds in consumer goods driven by emerging consumption drivers. For example, clothing prices rose by 0.2 percent, while prices for arts/crafts and ceremonial products jumped by 12.8 percent in May.
Advanced manufacturing helped back up price increases in some sectors. Prices for semiconductor packaging and testing, as well as aircraft manufacturing, rose by 3.6 percent. And price declines in new energy sectors such as photovoltaics and lithium batteries narrowed, suggesting improving supply-demand conditions.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
