The National Bureau of Statistics releases price monitoring updates three times per month for 50 major products. At the start of 2026, some of these products were changed, and this provides some insights into how China’s economy is changing, and what products the statistics bureau believes are important to be monitored.
The most notable changes are the additions of renewable energy-related products and the removal of several types of coal.
Styrene, which is used to make polystyrene for products like disposable food containers, has been replaced with ethanol.
Monitoring ethanol prices would mostly be related to industrial uses of ethanol, rather than fuel use. China’s ethanol fuel blending was only 2.1% in 2025 and the government wants to strictly control the amount of corn used to make fuel. The rapid adoption of electric vehicles is also negative for any long-term growth in fuel demand for ethanol.
Under the previous reports, the NBS reported prices for 7 different types of coal. Under the new reports, this has been reduced to 4 types (anthracite, Shanxi coal, coking coal, and coke).
Analysis from Carbon Brief last week estimated that China’s coal use for power generation dropped 1.6% last year due to increased renewable electricity generation, along with weaker demand.
Under non-metallic mineral products, the NBS has kept reporting prices of bulk cement but removed bagged cement prices. This was replaced with polycrystalline silicon, which is used in the manufacture of solar panels.
Also related to renewable energy, the NBS added prices of lithium iron phosphate, which is used in battery production for electric vehicles.
For agricultural products, white sugar prices were added. China’s sugar production rose from 9.96 million tons in 2023/24 to a projected 11.5 million tons in 2025/26, with total imports rising from 5.0 million tons in 2023/24 to 5.3 million tons in 2025/26.
Fertilizer price reporting was also expanded to include phosphate and potash fertilizers, in addition to the previously reported prices for urea and compound fertilizers.