BEIJING: China said Saturday that consumer prices slumped in April for the third straight month, reflecting persistent challenges as leaders attempt to revive an economy stymied by sluggish spending and a fierce trade war with Washington.The world’s second-largest economy has grappled with persistent deflationary pressure in recent years, with longstanding woes in the property sector and export headwinds impeding growth.The latest figures come ahead of Saturday’s start to a meeting of key economic officials from China and the United States in Switzerland, offering a potential offramp for the high-stakes trade war launched by President Donald Trump.US tariffs on imports from the manufacturing powerhouse now stand at a staggering 145 percent for many products, and reach as high as 245 percent cumulatively on others.Trump suggested Friday that the tariffs could be cut to 80 percent, though Beijing has demanded a complete cancellation of the levies that are compounding other challenges facing the Chinese economy.The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, was down 0.1 percent last month year-on-year, according to data released Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), following previous drops in February and March.The reading was in line with a Bloomberg forecast of a 0.1 percent year-on-year decline based on a survey of economists, and consistent with the slight drop recorded in March.NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said Saturday in a statement about the data that “international imported factors have a certain downward impact on prices in some industries”.The NBS also announced Saturday that April’s producer price index (PPI) declined 2.7 percent year-on-year, accelerating from the 2.5 percent drop recorded in March.China’s PPI, another indicator of inflation, has in recent months remained mired in negative territory, and the drop recorded Saturday was in line with expectations.“Changes in the international trade environment and a rapid decline in some international bulk commodities have affected the decline in prices in related domestic industries,” Dong said.China’s exports rose last month despite the trade war, official data showed Friday, an unexpected development attributed by experts to a re-routing of trade to Southeast Asia to mitigate US tariffs.The trade figures from the Chinese customs bureau showed that while exports to the United States dropped sharply in April, those to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam surged by double digits.Chinese policymakers this week eased key monetary policy tools in a bid to ramp up domestic activity.Those included cuts to a key interest rate and moves to lower the amount banks must hold in reserve in a bid to boost lending, adding to Beijing’s sweeping push to revitalise the economy since September.
