ST : China out of crisis

Dec 11, 2009
China out of crisis

BEIJING - CHINA said on Friday it had ended a year-long bout of inflation in November while factory output picked up as the world's third largest economy powered ahead following the global crisis.

The nation's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 0.6 per cent year on year in November, the first increase since January, official data showed.

'The mild rise in prices during economic recovery is actually conducive to economic growth and job creation,' Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a news conference. 'Currently there is still no inflationary pressure.'

The increase was due in part to Beijing's efforts to raise state-controlled prices for fuel, electricity and water to better reflect market forces. Prices also likely rose last month because early snowstorms in northern and central China destroyed crops and disrupted transport, driving up the cost of food.

China last year unveiled a four-trillion-yuan (S$814 billion) stimulus package along with big tax breaks to boost consumer spending as the global crisis hit its key export markets in the United States and Europe.

Industrial output, which shows activity in the millions of factories and workshops around the country, expanded 19.2 per cent in November from a year ago, up from 16.1 per cent in October. But exports unexpectedly fell 1.2 per cent in November. -- AFP