China’s consumer inflation turns negative for the first time in 13 months
PUBLISHED SAT, MAR 8 202510:32 PM EST
Sam Meredith@IN/SAMUELMEREDITH@SMEREDITH19
WATCH LIVE
KEY POINTS
- China’s national consumer price index (CPI) in February fell into negative territory for the first time since January last year, according to data published Sunday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
- It comes as investors continue to look for signs that Beijing’s stimulus measures can help to boost the country’s struggling economic recovery.
- Econmists say China’s growth target of around 5% this year may be challenging to achieve, particularly amid an escalating trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Aerial view of self-propelled jack-up wind power installation platform “Huaxia Honghu 01” after being delivered at CIMC Raffles’ Yantai construction base on March 6, 2025 in Yantai, Shandong Province of China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China’s national consumer price index (CPI) in February fell into negative territory for the first time since January last year, weighed down by a decline in food, tobacco and alcohol prices.
The CPI declined by 0.7% last month from a year earlier, data
published Sunday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed, reversing a year-on-year gain of 0.5% in January.
The reading missed estimates of an annualized contraction of 0.5%, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
China’s CPI in February fell 0.2% on a monthly basis, meanwhile, compared to a rise of 0.7% in January.
The data comes as investors continue to look for signs that Beijing’s stimulus measures can help to boost the country’s
economic recovery.
China on Wednesday set its GDP target for 2025 at “
around 5%” and laid out plans to stabilize economic growth by propping up domestic demand.
Beijing also revised down its annual consumer price inflation target to “around 2%” — the lowest in more than two decades — from 3% or higher in prior years, according to the Asia Society Policy Institute.