by XIN Yuan

China's consumer prices rose to their highest level in nearly three years in February, as holiday spending linked to the Lunar New Year pushed prices higher.

Data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3% year on year in February, up from 0.2% in January.

DONG Lijuan, chief statistician at the NBS' urban department, said the increase mainly reflected the Lunar New Year falling in February this year, which boosted holiday consumption.

Food prices rose 1.7% year on year, reversing a 0.7% decline in January. Prices for fresh vegetables, beef, mutton and fruit rose 5.9% to 10.9%, while declines in pork and egg prices narrowed to 8.6% and 3.0%.

Non-food prices rose 1.3%, driven by services. Service prices increased 1.6% as holiday travel pushed up airfares, vehicle rentals, travel agency fees and hotel accommodation costs.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 1.8% year on year.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 1.0%, the fastest increase in nearly two years, the statistics bureau said. 

Separately, the producer price index (PPI) fell 0.9% year on year in February, narrowing by 0.5 percentage points from January, while rising 0.4% month on month for a fifth straight increase.

China's government work report, delivered during the annual "two sessions" meetings of China's parliament and top political advisory body, set the 2026 CPI target at around 2%.

At a March 5 briefing, CHEN Changsheng, deputy director of the State Council Research Office and a member of the report's drafting group, said authorities had introduced measures to boost domestic demand, improve supply conditions and curb excessive competition to address weak price growth. CPI has edged higher and producer price declines have narrowed, indicating prices are stabilizing, he said.

Analysts expect inflation to ease once the holiday effect fades.

FENG Lin, an executive director of research at Golden Credit Rating, told Jiemian News that CPI could turn negative month on month in March as service prices fall seasonally, with the annual rate easing to about 0.6%, although rising global oil prices linked to tensions involving Iran could add some upward pressure to domestic prices.

YUAN Haixia, head of the research institute at China Chengxin International Credit Rating, said inflation is likely to rise only modestly this year, with core CPI growth around 0.5% supported by recovering service consumption.