China’s Weaker-Than-Expected Inflation Stokes Demand Concerns

(Bloomberg) — China’s consumer prices rose less than expected in May and factory prices dropped for the 20th month in a row, fueling concerns over persistently weak demand.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.3% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, hovering above zero for the fourth straight month and comparing to a median forecast of 0.4% in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Factory-gate prices extended a deflation streak that started in late 2022.