China consumer prices rise at slower rate in November

BEIJING, Dec 09 (AFP): China's consumer inflation rate slowed in November, official data showed on Monday, as demand remains muted in the world's number two economy.

The country is battling sluggish domestic consumption, a persistent crisis in the property sector and soaring government debt-all of which threaten Beijing's official growth target for this year.

The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2 per cent in November year-on-year, down from 0.3 per cent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

That was below the 0.4 per cent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Beijing has announced in recent months a slew of its most aggressive measures in years aimed at boosting growth in China, which has struggled to fully recover since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many major Western economies have been grappling with the threat of high inflation but China has instead been battling low or negative prices.

China sank into deflation for four months at the end of 2023, with the sharpest contraction in consumer prices in 14 years in January.