China October inflation forecast at 1.5%

BEIJING - China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October is likely to increase 1.5 percent from the same month's figure last year, slightly less than the 1.6 percent recorded in September, according to an industry report.

The official CPI for October is due to be released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on the coming Tuesday.

Annual CPI growth will be around 1.4 percent to 1.6 percent, well below the 3 percent target, said Lian Ping, chief economist with the Bank of Communications, in a report.

The report attributed slowing inflation to falling food prices, which account for around one-third of the CPI calculation, especially falling pork, vegetable and egg prices.

Since 2015, pork prices had been driven up as a result of a decline in the number of pigs being bred. Low prices last year and the rising price of feed had made pig farmers less willing to raise pigs.

Starting from September this year, pork prices have been falling as the country put pork reserve on to the market to stabilize prices.