China Consumer Prices Grew Faster in 2016

China's consumer inflation reported faster growth last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday, as a price rebound in commodities gradually drove up prices.

    The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2% in 2016, up from 1.4% in 2015, the same rate as 2014, according to an NBS statement. The figure was below the government's 3% target set for the whole year, according to China's News Agency (Xinhua). 

    In December, the CPI increased 2.1% from a year ago, slightly down from November's 2.3% rise. NBS senior statistician Sheng Guoqing attributed December's slowdown to a high base in the same period of 2015 and weak price increases in vegetables and fruit. 

    The NBS also releases figures on China's industrial inflation. The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 5.5% year on year in December, the highest since September 2011. PPI for the whole of 2016 dropped 1.4% , up from a 5.2% drop in 2015