Improving people's livelihoods a priority

China's consumer price index, a measurement of inflation, increased 1.6 percent in 2017 compared with 2 percent in 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This means the 2017 Government Work Report's target of keeping the CPI rise below 3 percent has been achieved. On the other hand, the producer price index, which measures changes in wholesale prices, increased 6.3 percent in 2017, ending the five-year declining trend.

The CPI is closely related to people's everyday life. Although the increase in the CPI last year was less than in 2016, people felt its impact was stronger in 2017, as consumers are more sensitive to the rise in prices of products and services that are closely related to everyday life.

But the range of items included in the CPI tabulation is much wider, covering eight major categories, 262 basic categories of products and services related to people's overall consumption, with the statistical weight of various product and service prices being different. No wonder people's response to the overall rise in the CPI is one of surprise, because the prices of goods of everyday use may have been relatively high.