Workers wearing face masks work at a garment factory in Enshi, Hubei province, March 16, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's producer prices went up in January amid a steady recovery in domestic demand, official data showed Wednesday.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 0.3 percent year on year in January, compared with a 0.4-percent drop in December 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 1 percent last month driven by the continued recovery of domestic demand and soaring prices of some global commodities, said NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan.

Among the 40 surveyed industrial sectors, 25 saw prices increase month on month, while 10 reported price drops and 5 witnessed unchanged prices.

Among the 40 surveyed industrial sectors, 25 saw prices increase month on month, while 10 reported price drops and 5 witnessed unchanged prices

A breakdown of the data showed that the PPI for the domestic oil and natural gas extraction sector rose 8.2 percent due to continued growth in international crude oil prices.

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With increasing demand for winter heating, the PPI for gas production and supply sector rose 3.9 percent month on month, Dong said.

On a yearly basis, prices of means of production rose 0.5 percent, reversing a 0.5-percent drop in December.

Prices for the ferrous metal mining and dressing sector increased 9.9 percent year on year in January, 4.9 percentage points higher than the increase recorded a month earlier.

In contrast, the oil and gas extraction sector saw weaker price declines, which fell 21.9 percent year on year, narrowing 5.1 percentage points from the previous month.

Meanwhile, rising demand for electricity consumption boosted the PPI for coal mining industry, which went up 6.4 percent from the previous month.

CPI Decline

The PPI data came along with the release of the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, which declined 0.3 percent year on year in January, compared with a 0.2-percent increase in December last year.

The CPI edged up 1 percent on a monthly basis, expanding 0.3 percentage points from a month earlier.

Food prices increased 1.6 percent year on year last month, up 0.4 percentage points from December and contributing about 0.3 percentage points to the CPI increase, Dong said. 

China saw a CPI hike in January 2020, which was mainly driven by the effect of the Spring Festival holiday.

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Dong said the relatively high base was the main factor that dragged the country's CPI into negative territory last month.

In breakdown, prices of vegetables climbed 10.9 percent in January from a year earlier, while those of pork, chicken and duck declined 3.9 percent, 10.7 percent and 6.8 percent year on year, respectively.

Wednesday's data also showed China's producer prices, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 0.3 percent year on year in January.