On March 15, Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out at a press conference that from January to February, the national consumer price (CPI) rose by 0.9% year-on-year.

In terms of categories, the prices of food, tobacco and alcohol decreased by 1.8% year-on-year, the price of clothing increased by 0.5%, the price of housing increased by 1.4%, the price of daily necessities and services increased by 0.5%, the price of transportation and communication increased by 5.4%, the price of education, culture and entertainment increased by 2.7%, and the price of medical care increased by 0.5%. Health care prices rose 0.6 percent, while other supplies and services rose 0.1 percent.

Among food, tobacco and alcohol prices, pork prices fell by 42.0% year-on-year, grain prices rose by 1.5%, fresh fruit prices rose by 8.2%, and fresh vegetables prices fell by 2.1%.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 1.2% year-on-year.

In terms of months, the national consumer price in January and February both rose by 0.9% year-on-year, and rose by 0.4% and 0.6% month-on-month respectively.

(Zhou Jing produced by Chi Hanyu)

Responsible editor: [Wang Shanshan]