China January consumer prices up 1.8%

BEIJING - China's consumer prices rose for a third consecutive month in January thanks to rising food prices, signalling easing of deflationary pressure, official data showed on Thursday.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.8 percent year on year in January, up from a rise of 1.6 percent in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Food prices, which account for one-third of the CPI calculation, edged up 4.1 percent year on year while non-food inflation climbed 1.2 percent, mainly due to higher prices of medical care, clothing and entertainment.

Pork prices jumped significantly at 18.8 percent, contributing 0.44 percentage points of CPI growth.

Month on month, consumer prices edged up 0.5 percent.

The NBS said vegetable prices went up due to supply shortages during a cold January, that demand for pork and transportation rose before the Lunar New Year, and that service prices had increased along with labor costs.

It was also revealed on Thursday that China's producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, dropped 5.3 percent year on year in January, the 47th straight month of decline.

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Chinese consumers buy nearly half of world's luxury products

Chinese consumers spent 1.2 trillion yuan ($183 billion) abroad last year, with the goods they bought ranging from luxuries to daily necessities, according to a luxury-market consultancy.

More than 60 percent of the consumers bought luxury products — including handbags, cosmetics and mobile gadgets — spending $116.8 billion on such goods, the Beijing-based Fortune Character Group said.

This accounted for 46 percent of global luxury sales, the company added.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese consumption power overseas grew on average by 27.8 percent annually between 2005 and last year, doubling such power in the domestic market.