China's CPI up 0.2% in November

BEIJING -- China's consumer prices steadied in November due to stronger consumer confidence, official data showed on Monday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.2 percent year-on-year in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The figure was down from the 0.3-percent increase registered in October, largely due to slower food price rises, said NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan.

The price of pork, a staple meat in China, jumped 13.7 percent from a year earlier in November, down from a 14.2-percent rise in October.

Prices of fresh vegetables rose 10 percent year-on-year in November, compared with a 21.6-percent increase in October.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent from a year ago in November, up from 0.2 percent in October.

On a monthly basis, the CPI slipped 0.6 percent in November, following a 0.3-percent decrease in October.

From January to November, the average CPI increased by 0.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Looking forward, China's CPI is projected to experience a year-on-year increase as meat demand will be likely to rise and cold winter weather may disrupt vegetable supplies, pushing up food prices, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.

China has implemented a series of heavyweight growth-boosting measures, including massive consumer goods trade-ins, to bolster the economy this year.

A suite of incremental policies will continue to be utilized to improve domestic demand and boost consumer confidence, which will likely also drive up the core CPI, Wen added.

The NBS data also showed the country's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 2.5 percent year-on-year in November, narrowing from the 2.9-percent decline in October.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI turned to an increase of 0.1 percent last month from a decrease of 0.1 percent in October.