China's factory-gate inflation at fastest in nearly 4-1/2 years in October, while CPI rise moderates

China’s producer-price inflation reached 5.7% year on year in October, its highest reading since June 2022, Business Recorder reported. The increase exceeded September’s 5.0% and a Reuters poll forecast of 5.3%; the earlier peak in June 2022 was 6.1%.

Consumer inflation moved in the opposite direction: the CPI rose 0.7%, down from 0.9% in September and below the expected 0.8%. Higher global oil prices, linked in the report to the Middle East conflict, lifted costs for energy-intensive industries, while subdued household spending limited the pass-through to consumers. Core inflation also eased to 0.8% from 1.0%, and economists cited weak domestic demand, despite strong exports and no significant stimulus so far.