[Chief Statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, Dong Lijuan: Month-on-month, the national CPI growth rate expanded from 0.2% last month to 1.0%, the highest in nearly two years, mainly due to the concentrated release of consumption demand during the extended Spring Festival holiday] Jin10 News, March 9 – Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the February 2026 CPI and PPI data. Month-on-month, the national CPI growth rate expanded from 0.2% last month to 1.0%, the highest in nearly two years, mainly due to the concentrated release of consumption demand during the extended Spring Festival holiday. Service prices rose significantly, with the increase exceeding seasonal levels. Service prices rose by 1.1%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous month, contributing approximately 0.54 percentage points to the month-on-month CPI increase. Among services, prices for air tickets, vehicle rentals, travel agency fees, and hotel accommodations rose by 31.1%, 24.7%, 15.8%, and 7.3%, respectively, with the four items collectively contributing approximately 0.32 percentage points to the month-on-month CPI increase, accounting for over 30% of the total CPI increase. Prices for pet services, vehicle repair and maintenance, and domestic services rose by 12.0%, 11.6%, and 3.1%, respectively, while prices for movie and performance tickets and dining out rose by 9.9% and 1.1%, respectively. These five items collectively contributed approximately 0.18 percentage points to the month-on-month CPI increase. Industrial consumer goods prices rose by 0.4%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month.