Inflation in China, 1953-1978

Abstract

This paper reconstructs annual inflation figures for China, for the period 1953–1978, where inflation concerns the Consumer Price Index (CPI). One alternative index and two new models are considered. The models associate CPI based inflation with the GDP inflator and with retail prices, for the years after 1978. A combination of the three ‘forecasts’ is taken as the reconstructed series. This new inflation series has proper face value and can be used for macroeconomic data analysis in China.