Technicians check transformers at an electrical equipment company in Haian, Jiangsu province. (ZHAI HUIYONG / CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China's producer prices saw narrowed decline in December 2020 amid a steady recovery in industrial activities, official data showed Monday.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 0.4 percent year-on-year in December, narrowing from the 1.5-percent drop in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 1.1 percent last month.

The continued recovery of domestic demand and soaring prices of some global commodities led to rising industrial product prices, said NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan.

In 2020, the PPI went down 1.8 percent from the previous year, NBS data showed.

The PPI data came along with the release of the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, which rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in December.  

A customer selects imported goods at a bonded commodities exhibition and trading center in Southwest China's Chongqing, on Jan 18, 2019. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

CPI rise 0.2%

China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in December, up from a 0.5-percent decrease in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The CPI edged up 0.7 percent on a monthly basis, compared with the 0.6-percent drop registered in November.

Food prices increased 1.2 percent year-on-year last month, reversing a 2-percent decline in November and contributing about 0.26 percentage points to the CPI increase, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Growing consumer demand, rising costs and special weather conditions were the main factors that pushed the CPI back into positive territory, Dong said.

In breakdown, prices of both vegetables and fruits climbed 6.5 percent year-on-year in December, while those of beef and mutton gained 4.6 percent from a year earlier.

In 2020, China's CPI rose 2.5 percent year-on-year, staying within the government's annual target of around 3.5 percent.