China’s inflation rate for July hit 6.5%, its highest in three years, despite Beijing’s best efforts to control it through required reserves for its banks and increased interest rates—five just since October.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that food costs were responsible for much of the increase. Industrial output was up from last year, gaining 14%, but was down from 15.1% in June. Retail sales increased 17.2%. Producer prices rose by 7.5%, the most in nearly three years, with nonfood inflation up by 2.9%. However, made huge gains: food costs in general climbed 14.8%, and the price of pork jumped by 57%.
Auto sales slowed, dropping the overall rate of retail sales, which without cars included, hit approximately 18%.