BEIJING: China’s deflation eased in September, leaving the country on track for the longest streak of economy-wide price declines since market reforms in the late 1970s.
Prices at the factory gate fell 2.3% from a year earlier, the 36th straight month of declines that was in line with forecasts.
Consumer prices dropped 0.3%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, below the median estimate of minus 0.2% in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, rose to an 19-month high of 1%.
“An improvement in demand and supply has stabilised prices in some industries like coal mining and solar equipment,” said Dong Lijuan, chief statistician at the NBS.
The world’s second-biggest economy has been mired in deflation since the end of the pandemic, with the housing market crash compounding weak consumer demand.
Overcapacity in some industries has led to a glut of production, forcing firms to cut prices to survive.
Deflationary pressures have persisted despite government attempts to slow or stop the crushing price wars and competition among manufacturers. — Bloomberg
