CBN丨China's consumer prices hold steady in November

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• China's consumer prices steadied in November due to stronger consumer confidence;
• Revenue from home appliances under China’s trade-in program exceeded 200 billion yuan.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China's consumer prices saw a modest growth in November compared to a year earlier, while the economy has sustained the recovery momentum driven by the government's barrage of support policies since September.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, increased by 0.2 percent year-on-year in November, slightly lower than the 0.3 percent rise registered in October. 

"This is largely due to a deceleration in food price rises," said NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan. 

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent from a year ago in November, up from 0.2 percent in October.

Looking forward, China's CPI is projected to experience a year-on-year increase as meat demand will be likely to rise and cold winter weather may disrupt vegetable supplies, pushing up food prices, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.

The NBS data also showed the country's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for raw material supplies at the factory gate, dropped by 2.5 percent year-on-year in November, narrowing from the 2.9 percent decline seen in October.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI rose by 0.1 percent in November, following a drop of 0.1 percent in October.

Experts attributed the increases in core CPI and PPI in November to the sustained economic growth since September. China has implemented a series of heavyweight growth-boosting measures, including massive consumer goods trade-ins, to bolster the economy this year.

In order to promote significant improvements in macroeconomic indicators, more supportive policies are expected in 2025 to ramp up domestic consumption, elevate market expectations, and strengthen internal economic growth momentum, experts noted.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

• Macao has seen its cumulative cross-border trips surpass 200 million this year as of Saturday, a new record and an increase of 9.4 percent compared to the total number of trips in 2023. Macao residents accounted for over 72.26 million of these trips, making up 36.1 percent of the total. Inbound tourist numbers reached 32.55 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.7 percent from the same period in 2023.
• A pair of giant pandas, gifted from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong in September, were officially named An An and Ke Ke after over 22,000 suggestions. The pandas were warmly welcomed on their public debut at Ocean Park Hong Kong yesterday.
• The Shenzhen municipal government announced Sunday that Luye Medical Group has signed an agreement with the city's health commission to establish an international medical headquarters and China’s first wholly foreign-owned specialty hospital. Its parent company, Luye Life Sciences Group, is headquartered in Singapore and operates across Australia, China, and Singapore.

Next on industry and company news

• Sales of home appliances under China's policy-backed trade-in scheme exceeded the 200 billion yuan threshold in less than five months, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Saturday. More than 29.4 million consumers enjoyed the trade-in subsidies to purchase nearly 45.9 million house appliances as of Friday.
• China's population aged 65 and above will account for 20 percent of the total by 2030 and 37.4 percent by 2060, according to a blue book released by authorities. The scale of the country's silver economy will likely reach 30 trillion yuan by 2035, accounting for 10 percent of the GDP.
• Artificial intelligence will change everything, but this does not mean it can decide all, Alibaba Group Holding's founder Jack Ma said at an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, which spun off from the e-commerce titan 12 years ago. On the same day, Ant Group's Eric Jing announced that he would step down from the chief executive post and be succeeded by President and Chief Financial Officer Cyril Han effective March 1.
• Xiaomi is currently preparing for its third sports utility vehicle (SUV) model "Kunlun", which will feature an extended-range powertrain and is estimated to be priced at around 150,000 yuan, media reported. Its official launch is expected in 2026， which may be outsourced to Wuhan Dongfeng Motor for production.

Switching gears to financial news

• China's 1-trillion-yuan ultra-long special treasury bonds have all been allocated to support specific projects and programs, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Among the total, 700 billion yuan was allocated to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas, while 300 billion yuan was channeled to fund equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins.
• China's foreign exchange reserves totaled 3.2659 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of November, up by 4.8 billion dollars, or 0.15 percent, from the end of October, official data showed Saturday.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese stocks slightly eased on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite barely moved while the Shenzhen Component dipped 0.55 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 2.76 percent and the TECH index jumped 4.3 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

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