Xinhua | November 15, 2023
China will not face deflation and the price situation will gradually improve, said a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
China's economy has maintained a recovery trend and the demand for goods and services has continued to improve, spokesperson Liu Aihua told a press conference.
China's broad money supply has maintained relatively fast growth, and market liquidity is generally reasonable and ample, Liu added.
Based on these factors, the price situation is expected to improve in the next stage gradually, and there will be no deflation, said Liu.
China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged down 0.2 percent year on year in October. On a monthly basis, the CPI dipped 0.1 percent from the previous month, official data showed.
Liu attributed the fall to "structural factors" in the contributors to CPI, with weak food prices being a big drag.
The price of pork, a staple meat in China, dived 30.1 percent from a year earlier in October, with the pace of decline quickening from September's fall of 22 percent. The decline in the pork price dragged October's CPI down by 0.55 percentage points.
Liu said the sufficient supply of agricultural products and softening consumer demand after the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday have driven food prices down.
Liu added that China's core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, has remained generally stable. Core CPI went up 0.6 percent year on year in October.