China Inflation Rate

China's annual inflation rate was at 2.1% in May 2022, unchanged from April's five month high figure and compared with market forecasts of 2.2%. Prices of food rose the most since September 2020, up for the second straight month (2.3% vs 1.9% in April), as consumption strengthened following an easing of COVID-19 curbs in some major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. Meanwhile, cost of non-food continued to increase (2.1% vs 2.2%), driven by housing (1.0% vs 1.2%), transportation & communication (6.2% vs 6.5%), education, culture (1.8% vs 2.0%), clothing (0.6% vs 0.5%), household goods and services (1.4% vs 1.2%), and healthcare (0.7% vs 0.7%). China has set a target of CPI at around 3% for this year, the same as in 2021. On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.2% in May, the first monthly decline in five months, compared with consensus of a 0.3% drop, and reversing from a 0.4% gain in April.