China's producer prices rebound in March

BEIJING - China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, rose 0.4 percent year-on-year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The pace picked up from the 0.1-percent flat growth recorded in February and met market expectations.

On a monthly basis, the PPI edged up 0.1 percent, compared with a 0.1-percent decrease in February.

In the first quarter of 2019, factory-gate inflation went up 0.2 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Factory prices of both production materials and consumer goods grew faster in March, up 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent year-on-year respectively.

Mining saw the biggest price hike of 4.2 percent, followed by processing which grew 0.4 percent year-on-year. The decrease of raw material prices also eased.

NBS official Dong Yaxiu said the carry-over effects resulted in a rise of 0.9 percentage points in the PPI growth in March while new factors dragged down the pace by 0.5 percentage points.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in March.

The figure rebounded from the 1.5-percent growth registered in February.