China’s consumer prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, as Beijing’s stimulus measures appear insufficient to boost domestic consumption while trade tensions simmer.
The consumer price index fell 0.1% from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Monday, compared with the median estimate for a 0.2% decline among analysts polled by Reuters.
The CPI slipped into negative territory in February, falling 0.7% from a year ago, and continued to post year-on-year declines of 0.1% in March and April.
Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, rose 0.6% in May, the highest level since January this year, according to Wind Information.
Separately, deflation in the country’s factory-gate or producer prices deepened, falling 3.3% from a year earlier in May, a sharper decline than analysts’ expectations for a 3.2% drop. The wholesale prices have remained in deflationary territory since October 2022, according to LSEG data.
