Economic and event calendar in Asia Friday, January 9, 2026 – inflation data from China

The market focus for the data agenda ahead here in Asia – Pacific today, Friday, January 9, 2026, is the December inflation data due from China:

• due at 0130 GMT, which is 2030 US Eastern time

The December inflation data will be closely watched for signs of whether the modest recovery in prices seen late last year has continued into year-end.

A firm tipping a lower than consensus forecast, Zhe Shang Securities at 0.7% y/y, seeing no change from the November result. Zhe Shang expect 0% m/m, i.e. no change. You’ll note in the scrfeenshot below there is no consensus forecast for the m/m.

• The firm’s PPI forecast has it remaining in negative territory at around -1.9% y/y, ‘up’ from November but still deeply negative.

The backdrop entering today’s release is one of persistently low inflation but slight upward momentum in consumer prices. November’s CPI logged a 0.7% y/y rise, its fastest pace in nearly two years, driven largely by rebounding food prices (especially fresh produce) and modest gains in other categories, while core inflation held around 1.2%. Meanwhile, PPI has remained deeply negative, reflecting ongoing factory-gate deflation as industrial prices continue to lag, although some stabilization was seen on a m/m basis late in 2025.

Market participants will parse today’s figures for evidence that domestic demand is firming and whether price pressures are broadening beyond volatile food items. The data will also feed into assessments of China’s growth trajectory and implications for global reflation narratives in early 2026.

Earlier this week the PBoC hinted at rate cuts ahead this year:

• China flags rate and RRR cuts in 2026 as PBoC leans dovish

Check out that post, specifically the screenshot attached of USD/CNY and my ‘read between the lines’ comment. They are a tricky bunch at the PBoC!

This snapshot from the investingLive economic data calendar.

• The times in the left-most column are GMT.
• The numbers in the right-most column are the ‘prior’ (previous month/quarter as the case may be) result. The number in the column next to that, where there is a number, is the consensus median expected.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.