After 8 months of continuous increases, gold jewelry prices drop for the first time, National Bureau of Statistics interprets the situation

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New Beijing News (Reporter Jiang Huizi) — On April 10, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that in March, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.0% year-on-year and dropped 0.7% month-on-month, both figures showing a slowdown compared to the previous month. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, this was mainly due to the seasonal decline in consumption demand following the extended Chinese New Year holiday. Notably, after eight consecutive months of month-on-month increases, domestic gold jewelry prices fell for the first time.

Impacted by international transmission factors and the recovery in demand for some domestic products, industrial consumer goods prices in March rose by 1.0% month-on-month, an expansion of 0.6 percentage points compared to last month; year-on-year, they increased by 2.2%, up 1.1 percentage points from February.

Specifically, influenced by a decline in international gold prices, domestic gold jewelry prices fell 3.9% month-on-month after eight consecutive months of increases, though they are still up 65.8% year-on-year, with the growth rate dropping by 10.8 percentage points.

Recent fluctuations in gasoline prices have attracted attention. According to Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Department of Urban Statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics, international crude oil markets have seen significant volatility, and these international factors have affected the domestic market. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) intervened with temporary control measures on domestic refined oil prices. After these adjustments, gasoline prices rose by 11.1%, contributing approximately 0.31 percentage points to the CPI’s month-on-month increase. 

Due to increased supply with warmer weather and a typical post-holiday drop in demand, food prices showed a seasonal decline in March; the food price month-on-month change shifted from a 1.9% increase last month to a 2.7% decrease. Among these, fresh vegetable and fruit prices fell 10.1% and 3.3% respectively, while prices for pork, eggs, and aquatic products dropped by 7.3%, 3.4%, and 2.6% respectively. These five categories together contributed about a 0.45 percentage point decline to the CPI month-on-month.

For service prices, after the holidays, seasonal declines in demand were pronounced, and supply in some service industries increased post-holiday. In March, service prices shifted from a 1.1% month-on-month increase to a 1.1% decline; year-on-year, they increased by 0.8%, which was 0.8 percentage points lower than last month’s rise.

In particular, the prices for air tickets, vehicle rentals, and travel agency services fell by 29.5%, 18.9%, and 14.2% respectively compared to the previous month, together reducing the CPI month-on-month by about 0.34 percentage points. Prices for pet services, vehicle repair and maintenance, housekeeping services, as well as movie and performance tickets and dining out, also declined, with these five categories combined causing the CPI to drop about 0.14 percentage points month-on-month.

Editor: Zhang Shujing

Proofreader: Wang Xin

Responsible Editor: Gao Jia