Local residents buy vegetables at a supermarket in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, on February 11, 2020. (Photo by Yang Zhu) The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 5.7 percent year-on-year in East China’s Anhui province in January, up by 1.3 percentage points from a month earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Food prices climbed 22.2 percent from the same period last year, contributing to 4.93 percentage points of the CPI growth. Pork prices surged 132.7 percent, contributing to 3.18 percentage points of the growth, while vegetable prices rose 16.6 percent, contributing to 0.47 percentage points. Nonfood prices edged up 1.5 percent. Garment and housing prices rose 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. Prices of transport and communication grew 0.4 percent. Prices of education, culture and entertainment increased 2.4 percent. Prices of medical care climbed 1.2 percent. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 1.7 percent last month, compared with December’s 0.1 percent decrease, the NBS said. Food prices increased 4.3 percent month-on-month, as the Spring Festival holiday pushed up food demand while the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak delayed supply. China’s CPI grew 5.4 percent. It may have peaked in January and then turned into a downward trajectory, as hog production has gradually restored from November and as the low base effect fades from February, China Daily said, citing a China Merchants Securities report. The epidemic, however, may marginally push up price levels shortly, while the impact may wane swiftly starting from March, according to the report.
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