China CPI and PPI: NBS inflation data and their effect on futures
China's National Bureau of Statistics publishes consumer and producer price indexes monthly at 09:30 Beijing time, which is the US evening. Chinese inflation matters to futures traders mostly through what it says about Chinese demand and deflation pressure: copper (HG), the Australian dollar (6A) and crude oil react more often than US index futures.
Senzoukria · Economic events · Updated September 2026
At a glance
- Published by
- National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS)
- Frequency
- Monthly; NBS says release dates are preliminary and subject to adjustment
- Usual time
- 09:30 Beijing time (the previous evening in the US)
- Figures
- CPI y/y and m/m, core CPI; PPI y/y
- Contracts often watched
- HG copper, 6A, CL; US index futures overnight
What the two indexes measure
The CPI measures prices paid by Chinese households; food, and pork in particular, has historically caused large swings, which is why a core measure excluding food and energy is also published. The PPI measures prices received by industrial producers at the factory gate and is closely tied to commodity prices and industrial demand.
For markets outside China, the PPI is often the more telling of the two: persistent producer price deflation signals weak domestic demand or overcapacity, and it also affects the prices of goods China exports.
Why global futures traders watch it
- Copper: China is the largest consumer of refined copper, so signs of stronger or weaker industrial demand feed into HG.
- Australian dollar: Australia's exports are heavily exposed to Chinese demand for commodities, so 6A often reacts to Chinese data.
- Crude oil: Chinese demand is a large part of global oil demand growth.
- Policy expectations: weak inflation strengthens the case for stimulus in China, which markets price across commodities and Asian assets.
- US index futures react mainly when the data change the global growth narrative.
Order flow in the US evening
09:30 in Beijing is 9:30 p.m. Eastern the previous evening during US daylight time, and 8:30 p.m. Eastern in US winter. The US index and commodity futures books are thin at that hour. A surprise shows on HG or 6A footprints as a burst of volume and a few levels of travel; follow-through often waits for European participants several hours later.
For ES and NQ, a move at that hour is more often noise than reaction unless the data are extreme. Comparing HG, 6A and ES at the release minute separates a China-specific reaction from a broader one.
In Senzoukria
Chinese releases appear in the News calendar under CN, which is off by default; enable it in the Countries filter. The Quant mode card deliberately lists no contract for Chinese releases and says that no listed contract covers this economy, rather than attributing US index futures to them.
The news wire has a CHINA tag, and the HG copper preset combines the METALS, CHINA and MACRO tags, which filters headlines to what bears on copper.
Related pages
In the same section
- Commitments of Traders
- Consumer confidence
- Canada Labour Force Survey
- ECB rate decision
- Bank of Japan decision
- EIA crude inventories
- Bank of England decision
- EIA natural gas storage
Sources
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- What time are China's CPI and PPI released?
- At 09:30 Beijing time, according to the National Bureau of Statistics release calendar, which notes that dates are preliminary and subject to adjustment. That is the previous evening in the United States.
- Why does Chinese PPI matter to commodity futures?
- Producer prices reflect industrial demand and commodity costs in the world's largest consumer of many raw materials. Persistent producer price deflation points to weak demand, which matters for copper, oil and commodity-linked currencies.