The consumer price index dropped 0.1 percent last month from a year earlier, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Thursday. That was slower than February’s 0.7 percent decline, but missed the Reuters poll forecast for prices to remain flat.
CPI fell 0.4 percent month-on-month, against a 0.2 percent fall in February and missing an estimated 0.3 percent decline.
Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, edged up 0.5 percent in March from a year earlier, reversing a 0.1 percent fall in June.
The producer price index, meanwhile, declined 2.5 percent in March from a year earlier, deepening the 2.2 percent fall in February, the weakest in four months and below the expected 2.3 percent drop.
Beijing unveiled a series of measures to boost the economy last year, including cutting interest rates and cancelling restrictions on the purchase of homes.
The nation’s economic recovery is also facing headwinds after US President Donald Trump further raised tariffs on China to 125 percent. (Reuters/AFP)
