China's inflation climbs to 2.3% as trade war augurs faster rise

Food and fuel prices propel CPI for August

20180910N China pig farm

Pork prices in China are seen as a major indicator of the trade war's impact on inflation.

ISSAKU HARADA, Nikkei staff writer

BEIJING -- China's consumer price index grew 2.3% year over year in August due to higher food and fuel costs, and experts see room for further inflation as fallout from the U.S. trade war.

Last month's CPI growth bested July's rate by 0.2 percentage point, government data released Monday shows, making for the fastest pace since February. But the January-March period is considered an outlier owing to China's Lunar New Year and the outsize consumption during the irregularly scheduled weeklong holiday. Apart from that quarter, August's inflation rose to a level last seen in November 2016.

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