Falling food and energy prices pushed down China’s inflation in 2024, officials said, but they forecast stronger price growth this year on the back of government stimulus efforts to strengthen spending and consumer confidence.
Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said despite food and energy price volatility, the core consumer price index — which excludes these items — remained relatively stable. He added that government stimulus efforts were driving stronger consumption.
The Communist party’s pivotal economic policy meeting, the Central Economic Work Conference in December, “explicitly stated the need to achieve a balanced combination of economic growth, stable employment and moderate price recovery” for the first time, said Fu.
China has announced a series of measures, including monetary easing and fiscal support for local governments, aimed at boosting growth. But analysts remain sceptical that these efforts will have a meaningful impact on household confidence, which has been hit by a property sector crisis.
Consumer prices rose just 0.1 per cent in December year on year, down from 0.2 per cent a month earlier. Consumer price growth has been low or in deflationary territory for 18 months.
