Consumer prices to rise by 1.8%

Trade frictions won’t impact inflation: economic planner

China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2018, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the country’s top economic planner.

Inflation will stay within a range set by the government this year, and trade frictions will have a relatively small impact on domestic prices, said Guo Liyan, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

China is aiming to keep annual CPI growth at around 3 percent this year, the same as the target for 2017.

A surge in international oil prices was the main boost to a two percent CPI growth in the first six months of the year, Guo said in an article released by the NDRC’s official WeChat account.

The growth of the price indicator is expected to narrow in the second half amid steady production and demands as well as weakened carryover effects, Guo said.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, is forecast to grow 3.5 percent this year, she said.

It registered a 3.9 percent yearon-year growth rate in the first six months.

In the January-June period, the gap between the growth of CPI and PPI narrowed by 3.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year, Guo noted, calling it a reflection of the strengthened effects of supplyside structural reform in key areas.

The general level of China’s market prices will remain stable in the second half of the year, leaving room for the fine-tuning of monetary policies and helping sustain steady economic growth, Guo said.

China’s CPI rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in June, compared with 1.8 percent for May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on July 10. PPI rose 4.7 percent year-on-year in June, according to NBS data.

China’s GDP expanded 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2018, up from the annual target of around 6.5 percent and within a range of 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent for 12 consecutive quarters.