Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

World Video | Defence | Foreign Affairs | Natural Events | Trade | NZ in World News | NZ National News Video | NZ Regional News | Search

 

China Inflation At Highest Level In Over A Decade


By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong

China's Inflation Rate Jumps to Highest Level in More Than a Decade

China's inflation rate reached the highest level in more than a decade in November, while the country's trade surplus continued to soar.

China's government said on Tuesday that the country's consumer prices - a key indicator for inflation - went up 6.9 percent in November compared to a year earlier. This is the highest inflation level in more than a decade.

Andrew Freris, chief economist for the Asia Pacific region at BNP Paribas Bank in Hong Kong, says the reason the consumer price index was so high in November was not a further increase of food prices.

Rather, the government had raised state-set prices for diesel and gasoline by ten percent in an effort to curb demand amid a fuel shortage.

He says while food prices are higher than a year ago, meat prices in November increased at the same level as in October.

"Meat prices are now stationary in the sense that they stopped accelerating and I expect that the December prices will show that they are now coming down," he said.

Freris expects the inflation rate to come down to about five percent in December.

Inflation has surged in recent months - mainly because of double-digit increases in food prices especially of pork, China's staple meat. This is due to shortages after a disease killed millions of pigs and because of the rising cost of feed grains.

Beijing is worried about mounting public anger over inflation. To contain the country's inflation surge, the government froze several of the prices it controls in September, for example for cooking oil and coal, and encouraged farmers to breed more pigs.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

China's trade surplus, meanwhile, remained high in November, totaling more than $26 billion.

The numbers suggest that the demand for goods made in China remains strong - despite mounting worries over product safety and several recalls by foreign toy companies this year.

The country exported goods worth more than $117 billion - up 22 percent from the same month last year. But Freris says imports rose at an even faster pace, going up 25 percent.

"If you have an economy which is growing fast it should be absorbing a lot of imports - particularly now that the renminbi for two-and-a-half years has been slowly appreciating, thereby making imports cheaper," said Freris.

The release of China's newest economic figures comes as a team of United States officials, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for high-level talks about trade and product safety.

ENDS

SEE: Latest World News | Top World News | World Digest | Archives | RSS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
World Headlines

 
UN News: Aid Access Is Key Priority

Among the key issues facing diplomats is securing the release of a reported 199 Israeli hostages, seized during the Hamas raid. “History is watching,” says Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths. “This war was started by taking those hostages. Of course, there's a history between Palestinian people and the Israeli people, and I'm not denying any of that. But that act alone lit a fire, which can only be put out with the release of those hostages.” More


Save The Children: Four Earthquakes In a Week Leave Thousands Homeless

Families in western Afghanistan are reeling after a fourth earthquake hit Herat Province, crumbling buildings and forcing people to flee once again, with thousands now living in tents exposed to fierce winds and dust storms. The latest 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit 30 km outside of Herat on Sunday, shattering communities still reeling from strong and shallow aftershocks. More

UN News: Nowhere To Go In Gaza

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said some 1.1M people would be expected to leave northern Gaza and that such a movement would be “impossible” without devastating humanitarian consequences and appeals for the order to be rescinded. The WHO joined the call for Israel to rescind the relocation order, which amounted to a “death sentence” for many. More


Access Now: Telecom Blackout In Gaza An Attack On Human Rights

By October 10, reports indicated that fixed-line internet, mobile data, SMS, telephone, and TV networks are all seriously compromised. With significant and increasing damage to the electrical grid, orders by the Israeli Ministry of Energy to stop supplying electricity and the last remaining power station now out of fuel, many are no longer able to charge devices that are essential to communicate and access information. More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.