China’s PPI Turns Positive in March 2026, Signaling Industrial Recovery Momentum

China’s Producer Price Index (PPI) has reversed its downward trend and turned positive in March 2026, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The positive shift in industrial producer prices reflects the steady recovery of the country’s industrial sector and injects strong confidence into the overall economic development.

Specifically, the PPI for industrial producers rose by 0.5% year-on-year in March, a significant turnaround from a 0.9% decline in the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.0%, with the growth rate expanding by 0.6 percentage points compared with February. Meanwhile, the purchasing price index for industrial producers also turned positive, rising by 0.8% year-on-year (vs. a 0.7% drop in February) and 1.2% month-on-month, with the growth rate up 0.5 percentage points from the previous month.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the year-on-year change in PPI was mainly driven by the price fluctuations of means of production and means of subsistence. For the出厂 price of industrial producers, the price of means of production rose by 1.0%, contributing about 0.81 percentage points to the overall PPI increase. Among them, the price of mining industry rose by 2.0%, raw material industry by 1.1%, and processing industry by 0.9%. In contrast, the price of means of subsistence fell by 1.3%, dragging down the overall PPI by about 0.28 percentage points, with food, clothing and durable consumer goods prices declining by 1.7%, 1.1% and 1.0% respectively.

In terms of purchasing prices, non-ferrous metal materials and wire prices surged by 22.3% year-on-year, becoming the biggest bright spot. In contrast, prices of building materials and non-metals, fuel and power, and agricultural and sideline products decreased by 4.4%, 3.8% and 2.7% respectively.

On a month-on-month basis, the price of means of production rose by 1.3%, driving the overall PPI up by about 1.01 percentage points. Mining industry prices led the growth with a 3.9% increase, followed by raw material industry (2.4%) and processing industry (0.5%). The price of means of subsistence edged down by 0.1%, with a slight drop of 0.2% in food prices and a slight increase of 0.1% in general daily necessities prices.

According to Economic Daily, the positive turn of PPI in March is a concrete manifestation of the continuous improvement of China’s industrial demand and the effective release of production vitality. Industry insiders believe that the steady recovery of industrial prices will help reduce the pressure of deflation in the industrial sector, improve the profitability of enterprises, and lay a solid foundation for the stable operation of the national economy in the next stage.