China's factory-gate inflation surges amid higher global energy prices

China's factory-gate inflation climbed to a nearly four-and-a-half-year high in October as global energy prices rose, while consumer price growth remained modest, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

The producer price index, which tracks factory-gate prices, rose 5.7 percent year-on-year in October, up from 5 percent in September, the bureau said. It was the fastest increase since June 2022, when producer prices rose 6.1 percent, according to the bureau's data.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices rose 0.7 percent in October, down from a 1.2 percent gain in September.

Six energy-related industries, including oil and gas extraction and petroleum refining, accounted for more than 80 percent of the increase, said Dong Lijuan, a statistician at the bureau, citing higher global energy prices and stronger fuel demand ahead of winter.

"Progress in managing industrial capacity and rapid advances in artificial intelligence also lifted prices in parts of the raw materials and equipment manufacturing sectors," Dong added.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, rose 0.7 percent year-on-year in October, compared with 0.9 percent in September. Gasoline prices climbed 22.4 percent from a year earlier, contributing about 0.63 percentage points to CPI growth, the bureau said.

Lower food prices helped temper consumer price growth in October, with its year-on-year decline widening by 1.2 percentage points to 2.9 percent. Prices for fresh vegetables, pork and fresh fruit fell 16.9 percent, 8.6 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, lowering the year-on-year CPI increase by about 0.54 percentage points, the bureau said.

The CPI remained unchanged month-on-month in October after rising 0.2 percent in September, the bureau said.

Core CPI — which excludes food and energy prices and offers a clearer gauge of underlying price pressures — rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in October, easing from a 1 percent increase in September, the bureau added.