National Bureau of Statistics: The demand for "AI+" is rapidly growing, and the price of optical fiber manufacturing in March increased by 76.1% year-on-year

During the interpretation of the PPI data for March 2026 by Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Division of the National Bureau of Statistics, it was stated that the national PPI turned from a year-on-year decline of 0.9% last month to an increase of 0.5%, marking the first increase after 41 consecutive months of decline.

Due to international input factors, prices in related industries in the mainland rose or the rate of decline narrowed in March. The price of non-ferrous metal mining and selection industry increased by 36.4% year-on-year, and the price of non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry rose by 22.4%, with increases expanding by 6.2 and 0.3 percentage points compared to last month, respectively; the price of oil and gas extraction turned from a decline of 12.9% last month to an increase of 5.2%; the prices of petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industries, as well as chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing, decreased by 4.5% and 0.3%, with the rate of decline narrowing by 7.5 and 3.4 percentage points compared to last month, respectively.

Dong Lijuan also pointed out that the supply and demand relationship in some industries in the mainland has improved, leading to a rise in prices. The market competition order continues to optimize, with prices of photovoltaic equipment and components manufacturing and lithium-ion battery manufacturing increasing by 5.2% and 2.5% year-on-year, respectively; new growth momentum is expanding rapidly, with the demand for computing power growing quickly, and the price of optical fiber manufacturing increased by 76.1% year-on-year, while the price of external storage devices and components rose by 21.1% year-on-year, and the price of electronic special materials manufacturing increased by 18.7% year-on-year; the green transformation empowers development, with prices of biomass fuel processing and comprehensive utilization of waste resources rising by 6.1% and 0.9% year-on-year, respectively