China’s consumer inflation remained elevated in June as African swine fever and heavy rains in southern China, jacked up pork and fruit prices, driving the consumer price index up 2.7% year-on-year, reported Caixin.
The average price of fresh fruit soared 42.7% year-on-year in June, more than one-and-a-half times the growth of 26.7% in the previous month and hitting the highest level since June 2006, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed. NBS official Dong Yaxiu attributed the sharp rise chiefly to a low comparison base a year earlier and heavy rains in southern China, which hit the fruit harvest and interfered with transporting the harvest.
The average price of pork rose 21.1% year-on-year last month amid the fallout from the country’s ongoing African swine fever outbreak. The price increase is up from an 18.2% rise in May, hitting the highest level since June 2016.