China’s inflation numbers miss expectations, rising 0.2% in June

BEIJING
—
China’s
consumer
price
inflation
rose
by
0.2%
in
June
from
a
year
ago,
missing
expectations,
while
producer
prices
fell
in-line
with
forecasts,
data
from
the

National
Bureau
of
Statistics
on
Wednesday
showed.

China’s
consumer
price
index
was
expected
to
rise
by
0.4%
year-on-year
in
June,
according
to
a
poll
by
Reuters.

The
producer
price
index,
which
measures
factory-gate
prices,
dropped
by
0.8%
from
a
year
ago
—
in
line
with
expectations.

Core
CPI,
which
strips
out
more
volatile
food
and
energy
prices,
rose
by
0.6%
year-on-year
in
June,
slightly
slower
than
the
0.7%
increase
for
the
first
six
months
of
the
year.

Pork
prices
surged
by
18.1%
in
June
from
a
year
ago,
while
beef
prices
fell
by
13.4%.
Tourism
prices
rose
by
3.7%
year-on-year
in
June,
down
by
0.8%
from
May.

“The
risk
of
deflation
has
not
faded
in
China.
Domestic
demand
remains
weak,”
Zhiwei
Zhang,
president
and
chief
economist
at
Pinpoint
Asset
Management,
said
in
a
note.

He
added
that
China
would
rely
on
exports
to
support
growth
in
the
first
half
of
the
year.

The
country
is
scheduled
to
release
trade
data
for
June
on
Friday.

Lackluster
domestic
demand
in
China
has
kept
inflation
low,
in
contrast
to
major
economies
such
as
the
U.S.
where
prices
have
remained
elevated.