Chinese investors and citizens see hints of a past threat: Inflation

Historically, inflation has been a major political and economic issue in China, a consequence of a hard-charging economy as well as previous bouts of runaway lending by state banks

Pork is up. Vegetables are up. Gasoline is up. Even the official numbers, usually tame, are up.

Prices are rising in China — and that could complicate Beijing’s efforts to prop up a slowing economy and navigate President Trump’s trade war.

Chinese officials said Monday that an index of consumer prices rose in August for the third consecutive month. The increases are not particularly sharp, and Chinese economists point to a number of temporary factors pushing up prices, like floods that have damaged crops and a swine flu epidemic that led farmers to cull pigs.

Still, investors and the Chinese public alike are