China: Inflation figures surprised to the upside in August – UOB

Economist at UOB Group Ho Woei Chen, CFA, reviews the latest publication of inflation prints in China.

Key Takeaways

In line with expectation, China’s CPI recovered to rise 0.1% y/y in Aug from -0.3% y/y in Jul. CPI also rose on a sequential basis with the gain picking up to 0.3% m/m in Aug from 0.2% m/m in Jul. Risk of a sustained deflation in China remains low but we could still see some months of y/y contraction in headline CPI from now until 1Q24.

The pace of PPI contraction moderated to -3.0% y/y in Aug. More importantly, PPI rose sequentially for the first time in 9 months. The deflation trend is likely to persist into 1H24 though the pace will narrow due to base effect. 

We maintain our forecast for the headline inflation at 0.4% in 2023 before strengthening to 1.7% in 2024. We expect the PPI to average -3.1% in 2023 before recovering slightly to 0.4% in 2024.