China's CPI up 0.7 pct in February

People shop for Spring Festival couplets at a local market for the upcoming Chinese New Year in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.7 percent year on year in February, reversing a 0.8-percent decline in January, official data showed Saturday.

On a monthly basis, the CPI went up 1 percent in February, expanding by 0.7 percentage points from that in January, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the uptick in CPI to rising demand during the Spring Festival holiday that fell in February this year.

Food prices went up 3.3 percent month on month in February, accelerating by 2.9 percentage points from that in January, according to the NBS.

Prices of fresh vegetables, pork, aquatic products and fresh fruits rose 12.7 percent, 7.2 percent, 6.2 percent and 4.3 percent month and month respectively.

Non-food prices went up 0.5 percent month on month, compared to a 0.2-percent increase in the previous month, with prices of air tickets, vehicle rental, tourism, movies and shows jumping between 12.5 and 23 percent.

The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, went up 1.2 percent year on year in February, according to the NBS.

Saturday's data also showed that China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 2.7 percent year on year in February.

On a monthly basis, the PPI edged down 0.2 percent in February, according to the NBS.