Hong Kong (CNN Business) China is getting pummeled by rising costs that have pushed producer price inflation to its highest level in nearly 13 years. The country's producer price index — which measures the cost of goods sold to businesses — soared 9% in May from a year ago, according to government data released Wednesday. High producer inflation is troubling news for China's businesses and the country's ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic. It means that the rising costs of raw materials are now more aggressively cutting into company profits, and could force them to control costs by slowing down production or even shedding workers. They added that small and medium-sized businesses have been particularly hit hard by the surging costs of raw materials.

Source: CNN June 09, 2021 09:00 UTC