Statistics

China's March PPI growth advances to 30-month high

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-15 10:30

BEIJING - China's producer price index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 7.3 percent in March from a year ago, the highest in the past 30 months, the statistical agency said on Friday.

Related readings: China's March CPI up 5.4%  China's industrial value-added output rises 14.4% in Q1   China's Q1 fixed-asset investment up 25%

PPI was up 0.6 percent from February. The quarterly PPI was up 7.1 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose by a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in March.

The Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned on Wednesday that the country should never lower its guard against inflation, and expected inflation pressure to continue in the coming months due to soaring commodity prices on global markets, higher food and housing prices, and higher labor costs at home.

The purchase prices of major industrial materials increased 10.2 percent in the first quarter year on year, and was up 10.5 percent in March, the NBS said.