CHINA’S consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.1% year on year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

On a monthly basis, October’s CPI generally remained stable, contracting 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to inch up 0.1%.

Senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the stable CPI performance to falling demand after the National Day holiday and a high base of comparison with last year.

Breakdown data showed that food prices went up 0.1% month on month, moderating 1.8 percentage points from September.

Specifically, the prices of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and aquatic products reversed September’s increases to decline by 4.5%, 1.6% and 2.3%, month on month, respectively, as plenty of supplies hit the market and the demand weakened, Dong said.

Pork, a staple meat in China, saw prices rise 9.4% in October monthly, expanding 4 percentage points over the previous month. The rise of pork prices was mainly driven by the shortage of supply, seasonal strengthening consumer demand and “reluctance to sell” market sentiment, Dong said.

Non-food prices rose 1.1% from a year earlier, compared with the 1.5% rise in September, lifting consumer inflation by about 0.88 percentage points.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, gained 0.6% year on year in October, unchanged from the prior month.

Yesterday’s data also showed the producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 1.3% year on year in October. (Xinhua)