Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

President Xi Jinping visited Rizhao Port in east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday afternoon to learn about its progress in promoting smart and green development and expanding opening up.

Opened in 1986, Rizhao Port now has 76 productive berths. The port is a significant global hub for transshipping energy and bulk raw materials, ranking first among ports in China for the throughput of cargo such as iron ore, soybeans, and petroleum coke.

Rizhao Port has made vigorous efforts to transform itself into a smart and green port.

In October 2021, the port made breakthroughs by opening the world's first side-loading and parallel-layout fully automated container terminal. The innovative efforts have improved the port's operational efficiency by 50 percent and reduced overall costs by 70 percent.

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

Xi visits Rizhao Port in Shandong

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.3 percent year on year in May, and it is expected to continue growing moderately in the future based on the price trend, according to officials on Monday.

At a press conference in Beijing, officials from the National Bureau of Statistics briefed the situation of CPI in May and gave the prediction over its trend in the future.

Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the consumer price in May had three characteristics.

First, it kept flat in the year-on-year increase.

"In May, CPI rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier, staying flat from the previous month. Of which, food prices fell by 2 percent year on year, with the decline 0.7 percentage points narrower than the previous month, while non-food prices increased 0.8 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than April. Service price grow by 0.8 percent, the same as the previous month," said Liu.

Second, the consumer price showed a slight seasonal decline from the previous month. On a monthly basis, the CPI inched down 0.1 percent in May. The decrease was smaller than the 0.2-percent drop on average in the same period of the last 10 years.

Third, the core CPI rose moderately. In May, the core CPI apart from food and energy was up 0.6 percent year on year, keeping a moderate upward trend.

"Regarding the trend of CPI in the future, based on the current price trend of food, manufactured consumer goods and services, CPI will continue to rise moderately. For food, as a large number of seasonal fruits and vegetables being put on market, food price will remain at a seasonal low. In terms of manufactured consumer goods, its total supply is sufficient, which is conducive to the stability of prices. As for service, its price is expected to continue rebounding as demand for services further recovers," Liu said.

China's CPI expected to continue growing moderately in future: official

China's CPI expected to continue growing moderately in future: official