China's producer price growth slowed to its lowest level since November 2016 in December, and consumer price growth remained largely stable amid pressure from the People's Bank of China to curb inflation even as market borrowing costs are lifted to curb excessive debt growth.
While the sustained rise in factory orders will question the strength of the global downturn, it leaves local decision makers free to launch ongoing campaigns against excessive force and pollution. Opinions have been rising in favor of keeping the People's Bank of China on its current tightening policy for a while as inflationary pressures persist.
Looking closely at the data released this morning, food prices fell for the first time since 2003 by 1.4%, and data for 2017 showed a rise in producer prices by 6.3% and consumer prices by 1.6%.
Consumer price growth accelerated from 1.7% to 1.8% in December, but came below the expected 1.9%. While producer prices rose by 4.9% compared to the previous reading at 5.8%.
