CBN丨China's CPI up 0.1% in December

2025年01月09日 20:58 21世纪经济报道 21财经APP 李莹亮

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

China’s December CPI rises 0.1% year-on-year, while PPI down 2.3%;
PBOC will issue bills worth 60 billion yuan in Hong Kong on Jan 15.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China's consumer prices increased modestly in December while factory-gate prices saw a slowdown in annual declines, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose by 0.1 percent year-on-year in December after a 0.2 percent rise in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said. China's full-year inflation rises 0.2 percent in 2024, in line with the previous year's pace.

Within the CPI, food prices dropped 0.5 percent year-on-year in December versus a 1 percent annual growth in November. Meanwhile, non-food prices posted a 0.2 percent rise compared with a year earlier in December.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI remained unchanged, following a 0.6 percent decline in November.

China's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, dropped by 2.3 percent from a year ago in December, narrowing from a 2.5 percent fall in November.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI dropped 0.1 percent in December after a 0.1 percent rise in November.

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, attributed the year-on-year CPI growth to the smooth functioning of the consumer market, while the factory-gate prices declined due to factors including December being the traditional offseason for production for some industries and the international commodity price fluctuations.

Meanwhile, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC), China’s state economic planner, vows to expand domestic demand on all fronts this year.

In an article he published in the state-backed newspaper People’s Daily today, Zheng wrote that the NDRC would push the implementation of major national strategies and the construction of security capacity in key areas faster and step up efforts on the replacement of existing equipment and devices.

The NDRC would also implement special schemes to boost consumption to integrate consumption promotion with livelihood benefits closely. The goal is to maintain stable economic growth and stabilize employment and prices in general, said Zheng.

To achieve the target, the NDRC would strengthen counter-cyclical policies, put outstanding policies in place, and introduce timely and practical measures, Zheng added.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

China plans to issue the biggest ever central bank bills in Hong Kong on Jan. 15. The People's Bank of China said Thursday it will issue 60 billion yuan worth of bills with maturity of six months. The move aims to enrich yuan-investment products with high credit ratings in Hong Kong and improve the yield curve of yuan in the region, the central bank said.
Hong Kong will send its largest-ever delegation of 74 athletes to the 2025 Asian Winter Games, which will be held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, from Feb 7 to 14. They will compete in figure skating, short track speed skating, alpine skiing, speed skating, ice hockey, and for the first time, curling — a sort of bowls on ice.

Next on industry and company news

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Merck Sharp & Dohme’s quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine has become the first jab against HPV that has been approved for use on men in China, the US pharmaceutical giant said yesterday.

Switching gears to financial news

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Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

Chinese stocks closed mixed on Thursday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite slid 0.6 percent while the Shenzhen Component gained 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.2 percent while the TECH index edged up 0.1 percent.