China’s factory inflation hits 13-year high

Slow growth: A man works at a container factory in Lianyungang. Earnings at China’s industrial firms have slowed for five straight months. — AFP

BEIJING: China’s factory gate inflation hit a 13-year high in August, driven by roaring raw materials prices despite Beijing’s attempts to cool them, putting more pressure on manufacturers in the world’s second-largest economy.

The producer price index (PPI) rose 9.5% from a year earlier in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, faster than the 9.0% increase tipped in a Reuters poll and the 9% reported in July. That was the fastest pace since August 2008.