Chinese exports won’t stay cheap

China's consumer price index jumped to an 11-year high in November. The main cause? Soaring food prices, especially pork. And now China's set to export its inflation westwards.

China is developing an inflation problem. Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 6.9% in November, an 11-year high, spurred by an 18.2% jump in the cost of food, thanks to soaring pork prices.

But inflation is spreading beyond food: non-food prices posted their fastest jump this year, to 1.4% from 1.1% in October, as higher petrol and gas costs boosted utility bills; economists reckon this could be the main contributor to inflation next year. "The inflation issue has evolved into more of a macroeconomic problem," said Huang Yiping of Citigroup.

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