Overview

• The national consumer price index was unchanged year-on-year in July and gained 0.4% from June, reversing a prior month’s drop.
• Factory-gate deflation persisted for a 25th consecutive month as the producer price index fell 3.6% year-on-year.
• Core CPI climbed 0.8% year-on-year, driven by rising service and industrial goods prices.
• Food prices declined 1.6% year-on-year, exerting downward pressure on the overall inflation rate.
• Policy makers have launched an anti-price-war campaign and overcapacity controls to shore up industrial margins against weak consumption and trade frictions.