China able to achieve inflation target this year: official

BEIJING -- China is capable of achieving its inflation target of around 3 percent this year, the country's top economic planner said Friday.

With continued efforts to strengthen the production, supply, storage and marketing systems of key commodities, the country has maintained the overall stability of prices, Yang Yinkai, deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in July, which is well below that of major economies and most emerging market countries, he said.

Due to imported inflationary pressure, a seasonal rise in pork prices and the low base effect in the same period of last year, the CPI may be slightly higher in the latter months of this year and the first quarter of next year, compared with the preceding months, Yang added.

An executive meeting of the State Council earlier this month decided to adjust the mechanism of raising social benefits pro rata to price increases from September 2022 to March 2023, offering wider coverage.

One of the triggers of the mechanism, the CPI monthly increase year on year, will be lowered to 3 percent from the previous 3.5 percent, he said.