In China, consumer prices rose less than expected in March

At the same time, the consumer price index decreased by 1.0 percent on a monthly basis, following the 1.0 percent increase in February. The analyst consensus included a 0.5 percent decrease for March.
In China, from October last year to January this year, consumer prices fell for four consecutive months on an annual basis, which was the longest period of deflation since October 2009.

According to the statistics office’s calculations, in March food prices in China fell for the ninth month in a row on an annual basis, falling by 2.7 percent in March after 0.9 percent in February.