China's consumer prices fall 0.8% YoY, factory deflation persists

China consumer prices fall: China's consumer prices extended their decline for a fourth month in January while producer prices also dropped, underscoring deflationary risks facing the world's second-biggest economy as it struggles to mount a solid recovery.

The consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.8 per cent in January from a year earlier, after a 0.3 per cent drop in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

The CPI rose 0.3 per cent month-on-month from a 0.1 per cent uptick the previous month.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.5 per cent fall year-on-year and a 0.4 per cent gain month-on-month. The producer price index (PPI) slid 2.5 per cent from a year earlier in January after a 2.7 per cent fall the previous month, compared with a 2.6 per cent slide forecast in the Reuters poll.

The economy grew 5.2 per cent in 2023, meeting the official target of around 5 per cent, but the recovery has been shakier than investors had expected.