China CPI narrowly misses forecasts in March

Consumer prices in China rose less than expected in March as food prices continued to weigh, although inflationary pressures at the factory gate narrowly beat forecasts .

The country's consumer price index advanced at a 0.9% year-on-year clip in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

That was above the previous month's reading of 0.8% but nevertheless missed the consensus forecast of 1.0%.

Whereas non-food inflation picked-up on the back of the increased cost of services, such as healthcare, pork prices continued to drag on those for foodstuffs.

Food price inflation slowed from -4.4% in February to -4.3% for March.

The rate of increase in factory gate prices on the other hand slipped from a 7.8% clip for February to 7.6% last month, although economists had expected them to slow further, to a 7.5% pace.

It was the first monthly decline in producer price inflation since August 2015, Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics pointed out.

Evans Pritchard added: "Looking ahead, we expect producer price inflation to drop back further during the coming months as base effects become less favourable and economic activity begins to cool on the back of a tighter policy stance. Consumer price inflation may regain some ground but should remain below 2.0%. The upshot is that those anticipating a further reflation in China are likely to be disappointed."