China: Prices Grow, Industrial Production Slows Down

National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) released the latest data on the country’s economic and financial situation in August. Last month, China’s consumer price index rose 0.6% year-on-year and 0.4% from July 2024. According to NBS of China, the prices of food, tobacco, and alcohol rose 2.1 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the index grew 0.3% year-on-year. At the same time, the producer prices fell 1.8% year-over-year and 0.7% month-over-month in August.

“The national economy was generally stable in August, with steady progress in quality development. However, we must be cognizant of the fact that the negative impacts arising from changes in the external environment are intensifying, actual domestic demand remains insufficient, and a sustained economic recovery continues to face numerous challenges and difficulties,” the office said in a statement.

Over the period, China’s industrial production grew at an annualized rate of 4.5% (+0.32% compared to July results), the lowest level in five months. On an industry-by-industry basis, mining production increased by 3.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2023. Manufacturing output increased by 4.3%, and the energy sector by 6.8%.

The Bureau of Statistics noted that “the production of vehicles running on new energy sources, industrial robots, and integrated circuits grew by 30.5%, 20.1% and 17.8% year-on-year respectively.” And while in the last summer month state-owned enterprises increased their value added by 3.6%, private enterprises managed to increase it by 4.5%.

Finally, China’s services sector output rose 4.6% year-on-year in August. Among the tertiary and advanced tertiary sectors with above-average performance are the sectors of “software, information technology services, business consulting services, financial intermediation services, and transportation.”

Per scaricare il testo del comunicato dal sito di Pluralia (PDF in inglese)