China's consumer and wholesale inflation rebounded in August, as higher global commodity costs and surging high-tech demand cushioned persistently tepid domestic consumption.
The producer price index increased 3.8%, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, exceeding economists' forecast for a 3.6% gain and outpacing July's 3.5%, the weakest in three months.
Much of the anticipated pickup reflects a favorable base-effect comparison and higher commodity costs, economists said, rather than a genuine strengthening in household demand, which has stayed soft as effects from Beijing's trade-in subsidies and other consumption-boosting measures fade. The Iran war has sent oil prices surging in recent months.
Consumer prices rose 0.8% in August from a year ago, in line with economists' estimates in a Reuters poll, and accelerating from July's 0.5% gain, the official release showed.
Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, climbed 1% in August, edging up from a 0.9% gain in July.