May 11th, the National Bureau of Statistics announced the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) for April. Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, stated that in April, influenced by fluctuations in international crude oil prices and increased travel demand during holidays, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.3% month-on-month and 1.2% year-on-year. Core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 1.2% year-on-year, maintaining a moderate rebound. Due to rapid increases in international commodity prices, increased demand in some domestic industries, and ongoing market competition improvements, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 1.7% month-on-month and 2.8% year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding compared to the previous month.

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Moderate rebound in CPI

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that in April 2026, China’s CPI increased by 1.2% year-on-year, with the growth rate rising 0.2 percentage points compared to March.

Among them, the prices of industrial consumer goods rose by 3.5% in April, expanding by 1.3 percentage points from the previous month, accounting for about 1.06 percentage points of the year-on-year CPI increase. Among industrial consumer goods, affected by fluctuations in international commodity prices, domestic gasoline and gold jewelry prices fluctuated significantly, with gasoline prices increasing by 19.3%, contributing about 0.56 percentage points to the CPI year-on-year increase; gold jewelry prices rose by 46.9%, contributing about 0.20 percentage points to the CPI year-on-year increase.

△Consumers selecting gold jewelry at a counter.

Service prices increased by 0.9%, expanding by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, contributing about 0.44 percentage points to the CPI year-on-year increase. In services, the overall price increase of basic public services remained stable, travel service prices increased, and prices for manual services rose slightly, including pet services, dining out, housekeeping, and vehicle repair and maintenance, with growth rates between 1.1% and 1.4%. These four categories together contributed about 0.10 percentage points to the CPI year-on-year increase.

Food prices shifted from a 0.3% increase last month to a 1.6% decrease. Among foods, pork prices fell by 15.2%, with the decline expanding by 3.7 percentage points from the previous month, accounting for about 0.29 percentage points of the CPI decrease; fresh vegetables and fruits decreased by 0.5% and 1.0%, respectively; beef, lamb, seafood, and eggs all increased in price, with growth rates between 1.0% and 6.2%.

△Beijing residents shopping for fruits and vegetables at supermarkets.

Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that from a month-on-month perspective, the national CPI changed from a 0.7% decrease last month to a 0.3% increase, which is 0.4 percentage points above the seasonal level, mainly driven by rising energy and travel service prices.

Affected by fluctuations in international crude oil prices, domestic energy prices increased by 5.7%, with the growth rate expanding by 0.9 percentage points from the previous month. Among them, influenced by Qingming Festival, May Day holiday, and some regions’ spring breaks, travel demand increased significantly, with airline ticket prices, transportation rentals, travel agency fees, and hotel accommodations rising by 29.2%, 8.6%, 4.5%, and 3.9%, respectively, all exceeding seasonal levels.

Yuan Shuai, Deputy Director of Investment at the China Urban Development Research Institute, stated that the CPI trend confirms that domestic consumption demand is steadily recovering, and consumer confidence is gradually rebounding. The steady state of core CPI further indicates that the recovery of domestic demand is sustainable and not just a short-term pulse growth.

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Widening PPI growth

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s PPI increased by 2.8% year-on-year in April, with the growth rate expanding by 2.3 percentage points compared to the previous month.

Among the main industries with price increases, non-ferrous metal mining and dressing increased by 38.9%, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing increased by 22.5%, collectively contributing about 1.58 percentage points to the PPI year-on-year increase; oil and natural gas extraction increased by 28.6%, coal and other fuel processing increased by 14.2%, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing increased by 8.9%, collectively contributing about 1.50 percentage points; electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing increased by 3.6%, computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased by 1.5%, collectively contributing about 0.46 percentage points.

In the main industries with price decreases, non-metallic mineral products fell by 5.5%, power and heat production and supply decreased by 4.2%, automobile manufacturing decreased by 2.0%, and ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing decreased by 1.1%, collectively contributing about 0.75 percentage points to the PPI decline.

From a month-on-month perspective, the national PPI increased by 1.7% in April, with the growth rate expanding by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month.

Dong Lijuan stated that the main features of the PPI in April are: first, international input factors influenced domestic oil-related industry prices to rise. The upward trend in international crude oil prices drove domestic oil-related industry prices higher. Second, increased demand in some domestic industries pushed prices up. Third, ongoing market competition improvements led to rising or narrowing declines in related industry prices. The effectiveness of deepening the crackdown on “involution” competition continues to show, with lithium-ion battery manufacturing prices rising by 1.6% month-on-month, and new energy vehicle manufacturing prices decreasing by 0.1%, with the decline narrowing by 0.7 percentage points compared to last month.

From a year-on-year perspective, the national PPI increased by 2.8%, with the growth rate expanding by 2.3 percentage points from the previous month. In the main industries with price increases, non-ferrous metal mining and dressing increased by 38.9%, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing increased by 22.5%, collectively contributing about 1.58 percentage points to the PPI year-on-year increase; oil and natural gas extraction increased by 28.6%, coal and other fuel processing increased by 14.2%, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing increased by 8.9%, collectively contributing about 1.50 percentage points; electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing increased by 3.6%, computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased by 1.5%, collectively contributing about 0.46 percentage points. In the main industries with price decreases, non-metallic mineral products fell by 5.5%, power and heat production and supply decreased by 4.2%, automobile manufacturing decreased by 2.0%, and ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing decreased by 1.1%, collectively contributing about 0.75 percentage points to the PPI decline.

Yuan Shuai told China Business Daily that this round of PPI rebound has clear cost-push characteristics and is not solely driven by strong domestic demand expansion. This means upstream price increases may exert cost pressures on downstream manufacturing, and future attention should be paid to structural issues.

Yang Chang, Chief Analyst of the Policy Team at Zhongtai Securities, believes that in the black chain, the difference between ferrous smelting (up 0.6% month-on-month, previous up 0.3%) and ferrous mining (up 0.4% month-on-month, previous down 0.9%) is positive 0.2 percentage points (previously positive 1.2%), indicating profit margins in ferrous smelting are narrowing.

Yuan Shuai stated that the moderate price rebound provides more room for policy adjustments, allowing policies to focus more on expanding domestic demand and supporting the development of the real economy, especially manufacturing.

Author: Reporter Ma Wenbo, Text/Photos

Editor: Li Monan

Proofreader: Zhang Bin

Reviewer: Peng Tingting