BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory-gate inflation cooled more than expected in January, falling to the slowest pace since July, official data showed on Wednesday, as government measures to control raw material costs weighed on growth in producer prices.
The producer price index (PPI) increased 9.1% from a year ago, the data showed, down from the 9.5% growth tipped by a Reuters poll after a 10.3% gain in December，the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.
China’s consumer price index (CPI) inched up 0.9% last month from a year earlier. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a 1% rise, after a 1.5% uptick in December.
The world’s second-biggest economy faces multiple headwinds, weighed down by persistent weakness in the property sector and strict anti-coronavirus measures that have sapped consumer confidence and spending.
(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes and Christian Schmollinger)
