BEIJING - China saw signs of improvement in factory-gate prices in January 2026, with the decline in its producer price index (PPI) continuing to narrow, official data showed Wednesday.

The PPI, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 1.4 percent year on year in January, narrowing by 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

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On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 0.4 percent in January, 0.2 percentage points higher than the increase recorded in December, according to the NBS data.

China's PPI has increased on a monthly basis for four consecutive months, said NBS statistician Dong Lijuan, noting that efforts to develop a unified national market led to price increases in the cement manufacturing and the photovoltaic industries.

Stronger demand in some sectors also contributed to the increase, particularly in semiconductor materials and external storage devices linked to the artificial intelligence industry, as well as in ceremonial goods manufacturing and agricultural product processing ahead of the Chinese New Year.

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Rising international non-ferrous metal prices pushed up month-on-month prices in the domestic non-ferrous metals sector, contributing further to the increase, Dong added.  

Wednesday's data also showed that China's consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in January.