China Dec. CPI up 4.5%, flattening due to falling pork prices

China's consumer inflation roseby 4.5 percentin Decemberyear on year, continuing on the previous month's trajectory but falling short of analysts' expectations of even higher surges.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the consumer price index (CPI)on Thursday, said the flattening inflation growth was a result of falling food prices, particularly pork prices.

On a month-on-month basis, food prices dropped by 0.4 percent in December, compared with the 1.8-percent rise in November. The pork price fell by 5.6 percent month on month in December, compared with a growth of 3.8 percent in November, according to the NBS.

The country's pork prices soared in 2019 due to a sweeping African swine fever. Thanks to the recovery of pig farm operations, growing imports of pork, and the government's releases of reserve pork, the prices have been recovering, the NBS said in a statement.

Still, December pork prices rose by 97 percent from a year earlier, contributing to 2.34-percentage-point increase of the CPI.

The December CPI figure was below an analyst poll by Bloomberg, which forecast a 4.7-percent growth.

For the whole year, the CPI rose by 2.9 percent year on year, within the government target of three percent.

(CGTN)