A man browses meat in a supermarket in Nantong on Jan 11. [Photo by Xu Congjun/zgnt.net] 

The consumer price index (CPI) in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, reached 104.5 in December 2019, up 4.5 percent year on year.

According to official data, this growth rate is the same as the national average and 0.2 percent lower than the provincial average.

Although the pork price dropped slightly thanks to government efforts at the national and local levels to restore pork production, prices of beef, mutton, and poultry is continuing to increase rapidly.

Meanwhile, the average price of food, tobacco, and alcohol increased 15.1 percent year on year, the fastest growth rate among all consumer goods. The price of clothing, education, and entertainment rose 4.5 percent, while the price of transport and communications increased 0.7 percent.