The nation's price levels continued their moderate recovery in August, reflecting sustained improvement in domestic demand under supportive policy measures.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent month on month in August, reversing three straight months of decline, while the year-on-year gain accelerated from 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent.

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the uptick to several factors: rising energy prices, seasonal increases in food prices, continued gains in travel services during the summer holiday period, and higher prices for smartphones and computers driven by the surging demand for computing power.

Core CPI, which strips out food and energy prices, edged up to one percent year on year from 0.9 percent the previous month.

Factory-gate prices also sent encouraging signals. The producer price index rose 0.4 percent month on month in August, swinging from a 0.7 percent decline the previous month.

The year-on-year gain widened to 3.8 percent, faster than July's 3.5 percent and topped the 3.6 percent forecast by analysts. (Xinhua/AFP)


Edited by Robert Kemp