China's PPI up 0.5 pct in March

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, returned to year-on-year growth in March 2026, ending a 41-month streak of decline, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The PPI went up 0.5 percent year on year in March, reversing a 0.9 percent drop in February, according to the NBS.

NBS statisticians attributed the turnaround mainly to imported inflationary pressures and improved supply-demand dynamics in some domestic industries.

The price of nonferrous metal mining and dressing industry increased by 36.4 percent year-on-year in March, while the price of nonferrous metal smelting and pressing industry rose by 22.4 percent.

The price of petroleum and natural gas extraction industry increased by 5.2 percent. In contrast, the prices of petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industry, as well as chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry, declined by 4.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

In March, the prices of photovoltaic equipment and components manufacturing, as well as lithium-ion battery manufacturing, increased by 5.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

With the accelerated expansion of "AI Plus" initiative and rapid growth in demand for computing power, the price of fiber optic manufacturing rose by 76.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, the PPI increased by one percent in March, marking the sixth consecutive month of growth. The growth rate expanded by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous month, representing the largest increase in 48 months.

The price of petroleum and natural gas extraction industry increased by 15.8 percent month-on-month in March, while the price of petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industry rose by 5.8 percent.

The price of chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry increased by 3.6 percent on a monthly basis.

China's PPI up 0.5 pct in March

The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the third estimate report released Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The growth was revised down 0.2 percentage points from the second estimate, primarily reflecting a downward revision to investment. It is below market expectations for a 0.7 percent growth, and much lower than the 4.4 percent growth reported in the third quarter.

The downward revision primarily reflects a reduction in the contribution of investment to growth, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Data showed that, under domestic private investment, the contribution of changes in private inventories to the quarter's economic growth rate was revised downward from 0.28 percentage points to 0.14 percentage points, while fixed investment's contribution to the economic growth was also lowered by 0.03 percentage points to 0.26 percentage points.

The sudden fall in U.S. GDP growth signals deeper economic weakness at a time when global uncertainty, policy shocks and demand pressures are rising together, local media reported Thursday.

The U.S. GDP rose 2.1 percent in 2025 on an annual basis, the same as previously estimated. The GDP increase in 2025 primarily reflected increases in consumer spending and investment, the report said.

The third report for the fourth quarter of 2025 was originally scheduled for March 27, 2026, but was rescheduled due to the October-November 2025 government shutdown.

US GDP growth in Q4 of 2025 revised lower to 0.5 pct