China Inflation Rises Slightly; Producer Price Inflation Moderates

China's inflation rose marginally on non-food prices in March, while factory gate inflation moderated as commodity prices weakened notably.

Inflation rose to 0.9 percent in March from 0.8 percent in February, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. Nonetheless, this was slightly slower than the expected 1 percent.

The government targets around 3 percent inflation for the whole year of 2017.

Consumer price inflation may regain some ground but should remain below 2 percent, Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at Capital Economics, said. The upshot is that those anticipating a further reflation in China are likely to be disappointed, he added.

Food prices declined 4.4 percent versus a 4.3 percent fall in February. Meanwhile, non-food prices advanced 2.3 percent after rising 2.2 percent.

Month-on-month, consumer prices fell 0.3 percent following a 0.2 percent drop in February.

Another report from NBS showed that producer price inflation eased to 7.6 percent in March from 7.8 percent a month ago. Economists had forecast the annual rate to slow to 7.5 percent. The 7.8 percent increase seen in February was the fastest since 2008.

On a monthly basis, producer price inflation halved to 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent.

Producer price inflation is likely to drop back further in months ahead as base effects become less favorable and economic activity begins to cool on the back of a tighter policy stance, the economist at Capital Economics, said.