Energy Price Spike Threatens China’s Inflation Outlook

A worker stands on a yarn production line at a Fujian Strait Textile Technology Co. Ltd. factory in Putian, East China’s Fujian province on Feb. 8. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Surging global oil and gas prices due to the Russian attack on Ukraine are adding to inflation risks in China as factory costs remain elevated.

The producer price index rose 8.8% from a year earlier, official data showed Wednesday, down from 9.1% in January and slightly above the median estimate of an 8.6% increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Consumer-price growth was unchanged at 0.9%, the same as economists projected.