Inflation shot up in China in December driven by rising pork prices due to a swine fever outbreak, official data showed Thursday.
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The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.5 per cent year-on-year last month, at the same rate as in November, the
National Bureau of Statistics said.
Food prices jumped 17.4 per cent, with pork prices soaring 97 per cent.
For the whole year 2019, the consumer price index rose 2.9 per cent, within the government’s target of 3 per cent, the bureau said.
China has been battling an outbreak of swine fever, with the government intervening to stabilise prices and calling for the revamping of the
pig farming industry.
The producer price index, which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, dropped 0.5 per cent year-on-year in December.
The index decreased by 0.3 per cent overall in 2019.
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The reduction indicates manufacturers were forced to discount their products due to a slowdown of the economy against the backdrop of
the trade war with the U.S.