China's inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May, while producer prices grew at the slowest pace seen so far this year due to weak commodity prices.
Inflation rose to 1.5 percent in May, in line with expectations, from 1.2 percent in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. This was the fastest since January, when prices climbed 2.5 percent.
Inflation was well below the government's target of around 3 percent for the whole year of 2017.
Food prices fell 1.6 percent after easing 3.5 percent a month ago. Meanwhile, non-food prices rose 2.3 percent versus 2.4 percent increase in April.
Month-on-month, consumer prices slid 0.1 percent, offsetting April's 0.1 percent rise.
Another report from NBS showed that producer price inflation slowed notably to 5.5 percent in May from 6.4 percent in April.
A similar slower pace of increase was last seen in December. Prices were expected to gain 5.6 percent in May.
On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.3 percent, following a 0.4 percent decline in April. This was the second consecutive drop in prices.
Looking ahead, Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics, said consumer price inflation will remain fairly stable over the coming quarters thanks to a further recovery in food price inflation.
However, price pressures elsewhere are expected to continue to ease as economic activity slows, disappointing hopes for a sustained period of reflation that would help erode corporate debt burdens, the economist added.
by RTT Staff Writer
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