China producer price index falls for first time in nearly two years

Factory gate prices in China fell for the first time in nearly two years, official data showed Wednesday, as the world’s second-largest economy languishes under Beijing’s strict Covid controls, AFP reported.
The producer price index fell by 1.3 percent on-year in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), pushing it into negative territory for the first time since December 2020.
The figure represented a reduction from September’s 0.9 percent rise.
Consumer prices rose by 2.1 percent on-year in October, the NBS said, moderating slightly from September’s 2.8 percent.
China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, stamping out emerging outbreaks as they occur through snap lockdowns, mass testing and strict quarantines.
Authorities in areas where cases arise frequently invoke the policy to shut down businesses and confine people to their homes at short notice.
Much of the country also remains under a patchwork of travel restrictions, roiling international supply chains and hammering domestic demand.
The country’s economy beat expectations to grow 3.9 percent in the third quarter, but analysts expect that it will fall well below this year’s official growth target of around 5.5 percent.